Nektar Therapeutics Inc. NKTR stock traded higher on Thursday, with a session volume of 2.80 million versus the average volume of 1.96 million, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Though there is no company-specific news to justify the movement. The investors are probably reacting as Sanofi SA SNY stock tumbled after results from the global COAST 1 phase 3 study.
The trial showed that amlitelimab met all primary and key secondary endpoints, demonstrating statistically significant and clinically meaningful skin clearance and disease severity compared to placebo at Week 24 in patients aged 12 years and older with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis.
Also Read: Why Is Nektar Therapeutics Stock Trading Higher On Wednesday?
Although the COAST 1 trial met all primary and key secondary endpoints, the magnitude of benefit with amlitelimab came in well below investor expectations based on the Phase 2 benchmark with amlitelimab and compared to approved benchmarks, including Dupixent.
On the key endpoint of the EASI-75 score, amlitelimab led to a roughly 20% improvement over placebo with the Q12W regimen, well below the roughly 39% improvement over placebo reported in the previous Phase 2b study.
In June, Nektar released statistically significant data from the 16-week induction period of the ongoing Phase 2b REZOLVE-AD study of investigational rezpegaldesleukin.
After 16 weeks, patients had a 53% to 61% improvement in symptoms. This was compared to a 31% improvement for the placebo group.
In addition, at week 16, the high dose of 24 µg/kg q2w achieved statistical significance on EASI-90 (percent of patients who achieve ≥ 90% reduction in EASI from baseline).
Price Action: NKTR stock is up by 24.27% to $35.48 at the last check Thursday.
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