Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) stock rose 7% Thursday following the announcement of encouraging outcomes from its REZOLVE-AD Phase 2b study of rezpegaldesleukin for patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
The company reported that rezpegaldesleukin met the primary endpoint of mean improvement in Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) at week 16 compared with baseline across all treatment arms versus placebo. The high-dose group (24 µg/kg every two weeks) showed a 61% mean improvement, while the placebo group improved 31%.
Significant gains were also seen in key secondary endpoints, including EASI-75 response rates of 42%, 46%, and 34% in the high, middle, and low-dose groups, compared with 17% for placebo. Patient-reported outcomes highlighted meaningful benefits, with up to 72% of high-dose patients reporting notable improvements in the Daily Life Quality Index.
Data presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress in Paris indicated that extending treatment beyond 16 weeks further enhanced responses. For patients who switched from placebo to high-dose therapy, EASI-75 response rates increased from 50% at week 16 to 62% at week 24.
“These results from REZOLVE-AD, including the improved responses observed with duration of dosing beyond 16 weeks, demonstrate the potential of this new biology and the promise of Tregs as a therapeutic modality to treat inflammatory skin disorders,” said Jonathan Zalevsky, Chief Research and Development Officer of Nektar.
The therapy was generally well-tolerated, with similar rates of treatment-emergent adverse events between the drug groups (60.3%) and placebo (57.5%). Nektar plans to release results from another study investigating rezpegaldesleukin in alopecia areata patients in December.
Nektar Therapeutics stock price
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