After Celgene (CELG) announced this morning a deal to acquire Delinia for $300M plus up to $475M in potential milestones, Piper Jaffray analyst Joshua Schimmer noted that the company's lead asset, DEL106, being developed for autoimmune disorders, is similar to Nektar's (NKTR) NKTR-358. While many investors are familiar with Nektar's immune-oncology program, NKTR-214, far fewer are familiar with NKTR-358, though both represent potential blockbuster opportunities if successful, Schimmer tells investors. He keeps an Overweight rating on Nektar, which he identifies as one of his top mid-cap picks.

Biolojic Design announced that Nektar exercised its license option to develop a program resulting from the companies' research collaboration initiated in 2021. The research collaboration was established to design and test agonistic antibodies targeting tumor necrosis factor receptor type II, a novel, biologically-validated disease target implicated in a wide range of autoimmune diseases that has been difficult to drug with conventional medicines. The antibody program selected for development is designed to modulate the TNFR2 pathway in order to agonize - or activate - T regulatory cells and other anti-inflammatory cell populations, making this a promising approach to stimulating the immune system in ulcerative colitis, multiple sclerosis, vitiligo, and other autoimmune disease states. Under the 2021 research agreement, Nektar has tested antibodies computationally designed by Biolojic Design to precisely agonize the TNFR2 receptor. Following successful preclinical in vitro and in vivo studies, Nektar decided to exercise the license option and has been advancing the program through IND enabling studies since late December, 2023. If the NKTR-0165 candidate proceeds through clinical development, Biolojic Design is entitled to development milestones and sales royalties.