"We are extremely encouraged by the dramatic efficacy observed with NKTR-214 treatment in an aggressive and resistant preclinical model of melanoma," said
NKTR-214 is a novel immunocytokine therapy that is engineered using Nektar's polymer conjugate technology to selectively target the beneficial IL-2 receptor complex. In the preclinical data presented at AACR, NKTR-214 exhibits differentiated IL-2 receptor binding which results in significantly altered immune cell populations in the tumor microenvironment compared to the clinically validated IL-2 protein therapy, aldesleukin. Specifically, NKTR-214 maintains high affinity for the IL-2 receptor subunit beta, which activates tumor-killing T cells within the tumor microenvironment. At the same time, NKTR-214 exhibits up to 100-fold reduced affinity to the IL-2 receptor subunit alpha-beta, which activates immuno-suppressive regulatory T-cells. In a well-validated animal model of melanoma, NKTR-214 demonstrated significantly improved dosing, at once every 9 days as compared to twice a day dosing with aldesleukin.
The data was presented today at the AACR Annual Meeting 2013 in Poster Session, Immunology 2, (Abstract #482): Charych, et al., "Tipping the balance in the tumor microenvironment: An engineered cytokine (NKTR-214) with altered IL-2 receptor binding selectivity and improved efficacy in a mouse melanoma model."
About Nektar
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This press release contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "expect," "believe," "should," "may," "will" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding the therapeutic potential of NKTR-214 and the value and potential of our technology and drug candidates in our research and development pipeline. Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, anticipated events and
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stage research and there are a number of hurdles, including the successful completion of preclinical toxicology studies, prior to NKTR-214 being ready to enter into clinical development; (iii) our drug candidates and those of our collaboration partners are in various stages of clinical development and the risk of failure is high and can unexpectedly occur at any stage prior to regulatory approval for numerous reasons including safety and efficacy findings even after positive findings in previous preclinical and clinical studies; (iv) the timing of the commencement or end of clinical trials and the commercial launch of our drug candidates may be delayed or unsuccessful due to regulatory delays, slower than anticipated patient enrollment, manufacturing challenges, changing standards of care, evolving regulatory requirements, clinical trial design, clinical outcomes, competitive factors, or
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