Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) shares climbed 3.6% on Monday after the biotech firm unveiled encouraging new data showing that its experimental therapy rezpegaldesleukin improved asthma symptoms in patients with atopic dermatitis.
The findings, presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology Annual Scientific Meeting, revealed statistically significant improvements in asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) scores at week 16 compared with placebo. The results came from the Phase 2b REZOLVE-AD trial, which is evaluating rezpegaldesleukin, a first-in-class IL-2 pathway agonist.
Patients receiving the treatment demonstrated the greatest benefit among those with partly controlled or uncontrolled asthma at the start of the study. In participants with uncontrolled asthma, all three dosing regimens achieved statistical significance versus placebo, with 75% of patients in the highest-dose group (24 μg/kg every two weeks) showing clinically meaningful improvement.
“The results with rezpegaldesleukin in patients with atopic dermatitis and comorbid asthma demonstrate that promotion of Treg activity may also have benefits to the lower airways, an observation which warrants further investigation,” said Dr. Jonathan Corren, Associate Clinical Professor at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine, who led the study.
Nektar also announced that extended dosing supports a 24-week induction period for its upcoming Phase 3 trials, with continued efficacy improvements from week 16 through week 24. The company expects to release long-term maintenance data from 52 weeks of treatment in the first quarter of 2026.
Looking ahead, Nektar said it plans to report top-line Phase 2b data for rezpegaldesleukin in alopecia areata in December 2025, as the company continues to expand the drug’s potential applications across multiple immune-mediated diseases.