Press Release

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics' (Nasdaq: NKTR) President and Chief Executive Officer, Howard W. Robin, is scheduled to present at the 31st Annual Cowen and Company Healthcare Conference at the Boston Marriott Copley Place on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern 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 April 8, 2011.

About Nektar

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics based on its PEGylation and advanced polymer conjugation technology platforms. Nektar has a robust R&D pipeline of potentially high-value therapeutics in oncology, pain and other areas. In the area of pain, Nektar has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with AstraZeneca for Nektar's oral NKTR-118 late-stage development program to treat opioid-induced constipation and its NKTR-119 earlier stage development program for the treatment of pain without constipation side effects.  NKTR-181 is a novel mu-opioid analgesic molecule that is being prepared for Phase 1 clinical studies. In oncology, NKTR-102, a novel topoisomerase I-inhibitor, is being evaluated in Phase 2 clinical studies for the treatment of ovarian, breast and colorectal cancers. NKTR-105, a novel anti-mitotic agent, is in a Phase 1 clinical study in cancer patients with refractory solid tumors.

Nektar's technology has enabled seven approved products in the U.S. or Europe through partnerships with leading biopharmaceutical companies, 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 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, 650-283-6253

SOURCE Nektar Therapeutics