Shares of Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) moved higher on Tuesday after the company released encouraging long-term maintenance results from its REZOLVE-AD trial of rezpegaldesleukin in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. The stock was up about 3% in morning trading.
The clinical-stage biotech said patients receiving rezpegaldesleukin, a regulatory T-cell–targeting biologic, sustained strong clinical responses through week 52 under both monthly and quarterly dosing schedules.
Trial data showed that 71% of patients on a 24 µg/kg monthly regimen and 83% on quarterly dosing maintained EASI-75 responses. For vIGA-AD 0/1 outcomes, 85% of monthly-dosed patients and 63% of those on quarterly dosing sustained their responses. The company also reported up to a fivefold increase in EASI-100 responses, signaling complete skin clearance in a subset of patients.
REZOLVE-AD is a global Phase 2b study that enrolled 393 patients. After a 16-week induction phase, participants who achieved at least a 50% improvement in EASI scores were re-randomized to receive maintenance therapy either monthly or quarterly for a further 36 weeks.
Nektar said the treatment’s safety profile remained consistent with earlier findings, with no new safety signals observed during the maintenance phase. Discontinuations due to adverse events were limited to 3.5% across all patients.
“These data validate the novel first-in-class regulatory T-cell mechanism as a potential best-in-class immune-modulator,” the company said, adding that the durability of responses supports moving into a pivotal Phase 3 program evaluating both dosing schedules.
Nektar plans to submit a Biologics License Application for rezpegaldesleukin in 2029.