Roth Capital analyst Michael Higgins noted that the first FDA Voice Blog issued by new commissioner Scott Gottlieb was dedicated to the ongoing opioid abuse crisis and he believes Gottlieb is directing the FDA to be more aggressive and take every opportunity to try to reduce prescription opioid and heroin abuse. Prior to Gottlieb's blog, Higgins had expected Nektar would need to run another Phase 3 trial before the NKTR-181 NDA could be filed; after it he now believes NKTR-181's NDA will not require another such trial. The analyst has a Buy rating and $31 price target on Nektar shares.