Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: NKTR) President and Chief Executive Officer, Howard W. Robin, is scheduled to present at the upcoming 30th Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco at the Westin St. Francis Hotel on Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 8:30 a.m. Pacific time.

The presentation will be accessible via a Webcast through a link posted on the Investor Relations, Events Calendar section of the Nektar website: http://www.nektar.com. This Webcast will be available for replay until February 12, 2012.

About Nektar

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on its PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugation technology platforms. Nektar's technology and drug development expertise have enabled seven approved products in the U.S. or Europe for leading biopharmaceutical company partners, including UCB's Cimzia(R) for Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, Roche's PEGASYS(R) for hepatitis C and Amgen's Neulasta(R) for neutropenia.

Nektar has created a robust pipeline of potentially high-value therapeutics to address unmet medical needs by leveraging and expanding its technology platforms to improve and enable molecules. In addition to the releasable polymer technology, Nektar is the first company to create a permanent small molecule-polymer conjugate with enhanced oral bioavailability and restricted entry into the CNS. Nektar is currently conducting clinical and preclinical programs in oncology, pain and other therapeutic areas. Nektar has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with AstraZeneca for its oral NKTR-118 program to treat opioid-induced constipation and its NKTR-119 program for the treatment of pain without constipation side effects. NKTR-181, a novel mu-opioid analgesic, has completed Phase 1 development and is being prepared for a Phase 2 study. NKTR-102 is being evaluated in a Phase 3 clinical study for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer and Phase 2 studies for the treatment of ovarian and colorectal cancers.

Nektar is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional R&D operations in Huntsville, Alabama and Hyderabad, India. Further information about the company and its drug development programs and capabilities may be found online at http://www.nektar.com.

CONTACT: Jennifer Ruddock, +1-415-482-5585

SOURCE Nektar Therapeutics