NKTR Shares Surge 38.2% in a Week: Here's What You Should Know

Shares of Nektar Therapeutics NKTR have rallied 38.2% in the past week due to growing investor optimism related to the company’s lead pipeline candidate, rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), which is being developed as a self-administered injection for several autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Two separate phase IIb studies are currently evaluating rezpeg for treating atopic dermatitis (also known as eczema) and alopecia areata.

Here’s Why NKTR Was Up This Past Week

Nektar’s price rose after French drugmaker Sanofi SNY announced data from the phase III COAST 1 study evaluating its pipeline candidate, amlitelimab, for treating moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in patients aged 12 years and above last week.

Despite amlitelimab meeting all primary and key secondary endpoints in the COAST 1 study, shares of SNY tanked as the data seemed to fall short of investors' expectations.

A Bloomberg article mentioned that some analysts felt that amlitelimab was less effective than Sanofi and partner Regeneron’s REGN blockbuster drug Dupixent, which is approved for several types of inflammatory diseases, including moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.

While Sanofi records global net product sales of Dupixent, Regeneron records its share of profit in connection with the global sales of the drug.

Year to date, shares of Nektar have surged 188.1% compared with the industry’s rise of 14.1%.

NKTR’s Atopic Dermatitis Data on Rezpeg

In June 2025, NKTR announced that the phase IIb REZOLVE-AD study evaluating rezpeg in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis met its primary and key secondary endpoints.

Back then, management had stated that the rapid reduction in EASI scores and significant itch improvement highlight the potential of rezpeg to become a first- and best-in-class immune-modulator for the treatment of inflammatory skin disorders, such as atopic dermatitis and other autoimmune conditions.

Unlike amlitelimab, which is an anti-OX40L mAb, rezpeg is designed with a different mechanism. Rezpeg selectively activates regulatory T-cells (Tregs) to calm the immune system and reduce inflammation.

Although rezpeg is currently in phase II development for atopic dermatitis and is still some years away from commercialization, investors remain optimistic regarding the candidate’s long-term potential, given the weaker-than-expected data for SNY’s amlitelimab. However, rezpeg’s long-term efficacy is yet to be determined.

Markets are also speculating that rezpeg may hold a better commercial future than SNY’s amlitelimab, given the success rezpeg had in a mid-stage study in atopic dermatitis. It remains to be seen how the candidate performs once it enters phase III development, the final phase before a potential nod from the FDA. The company expects to advance rezpeg into phase III development in the first half of 2026.

NKTR Also Studying Rezpeg for Alopecia Areata

Besides atopic dermatitis, the company is also investigating rezpeg in the phase IIb REZOLVE-AA study for treating patients with severe-to-very severe alopecia areata. Top-line data from the same is expected in December 2025.

The FDA has already granted a Fast Track designation to rezpeg for the treatment of severe-to-very severe alopecia areata as well as for the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.

Nektar regained full rights to rezpeg from pharma giant Eli Lilly LLY in April 2023 and took charge of its clinical development. Rezpeg was earlier developed in collaboration with Lilly for several autoimmune indications.

Rezpeg is now a wholly owned asset of Nektar, and the company owes no royalty payments to LLY.

Nektar Therapeutics Price

Nektar Therapeutics price | Nektar Therapeutics Quote

NKTR's Zacks Rank

Nektar currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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