Piper Jaffray analyst Joshua Schimmer said he thought prospects of success for NKTR-181 were very low after a failed Phase 2 study but he was "happy to be proven wrong" after the SUMMIT trial succeeded. A human abuse liability study will read-out around mid-2017, after which the company will meet with the FDA to discuss whether the package for NKTR-181 is adequate for filing, Schimmer noted. He raised his price target on Nektar shares to $29 from $25 and keeps an Overweight rating on the stock, which he calls his "top mid-cap biotech stocks for other reasons," such as its multiple royalty streams from partnered products and its emerging immuno-oncology platform.

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.