Nektar stops clinical trials for key cancer drug, shares tumble

[April 15, 2022]  (Reuters) - Nektar Therapeutics said on Thursday it had stopped all trials involving its key cancer drug following its failure in multiple studies, dragging the drug developer's shares down 23% in after-market trading.

The trials that Nektar stopped included those involving a combination of its drug bempegaldesleukin with Bristol Myers Squibb Co's cancer drug Opdivo as well Merck & Co Inc's cancer drug Keytruda.

Nektar and Bristol Myers were testing the combination therapy through an agreement signed in 2020, while the one with Keytruda involved a partnership entered with privately owned SFJ Pharmaceuticals last year.

Nektar and Bristol Myers last month discontinued two late-stage studies testing their combination therapy in melanoma patients after one of the trials failed to meet its main goals.
 

A sign stands outside a Bristol Myers Squibb facility in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., May 20, 2021. REUTERS/Brian Snyder

On Thursday, Nektar and Bristol said the combination of drugs failed to meet goals in another late-stage study in patients with renal cell carcinoma, as well as in a study testing the therapy in urothelial carcinoma, a type of bladder cancer.

With Nektar now halting multiple trials of its key drug, the company said it expects to announce a new strategic plan to rein in spending to meet its cash runway goals.

(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel)

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