Why Nektar Therapeutics Shares Are Plunging Today

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Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) took a heavy hit on Monday following the release of preliminary results from a recent clinical trial.

Why Nektar Therapeutics Shares Are Plunging Today

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The recent preliminary results come from the company’s PIVOT Phase 1/2 Study. This study seeks to determine the effectiveness of combining Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (NYSE:BMY) Opdivo with Nektar Therapeutics NKTR-214.

The clinical trail is specifically looking at treating patients with melanoma, renal cell, urothelial, non-small cell lung and triple negative breast cancers. The results included changes for three tumor types.

The three tumor types that saw effectiveness were melanoma, renal cell and urothelial. The study found that efficacy in treating patients was 50% for melanoma, 46% for renal cell and 60% for urothelial. These numbers are enough to warrant a Phase 3 of the clinical trial.

While the results from Nektar Therapeutics’s study appear positive, there are some concerns among investors. This includes a falling percentage of effectiveness in patients as the study brings in more people. Effectiveness in melanoma patients was down from 85% and renal cell effectiveness dropped from 64%. Urothelial remained steady at 60%.

Despite the results showing that the study is seeing effectiveness decrease in patients, Nektar Therapeutics is says that this isn’t the case. Instead, the pharmaceutical company claims that the new patients simply haven’t been taking part in the study long enough for effectiveness to occur.

No matter the reason, the preliminary results of the study wasn’t doing NKTR stock any good. The stock is down 41% as of Monday afternoon.

As of this writing, William White did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2018/06/why-nektar-therapeutics-shares-are-plunging-today/.

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