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Investing.com - Jefferies raised its price target on Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) to $99.00 from $69.00 on Thursday, while maintaining a Buy rating on the stock. The company, currently trading at $58.76 with a market cap of $1.1 billion, has seen its stock surge over 170% in the past year, according to InvestingPro data.
The upgrade follows positive patient-reported outcome assessments from Nektar’s EADV25 Rezpeg oral presentation, which drove approximately 10% stock movement, according to Jefferies.
The firm noted that the data showed Rezpeg’s positive objective and subjective impact on patient lives, complementing efficacy data reported in June and demonstrating potential for durable benefit beyond the 16-week timeframe shown in the blinded induction period.
Jefferies highlighted that the crossover data indicated a continued deepening effect, which could inform the optimal induction treatment period and differentiate Rezpeg from competitors that see plateauing effects over time, despite the open-label nature of the study with a small sample size.
The price target increase was primarily driven by raising Rezpeg’s probability of success to 55% from 45% and increasing the platform value to $100 million from $50 million, with Nektar expected to report full 36-week crossover data in early 2026.
In other recent news, Nektar Therapeutics has announced positive results from its REZOLVE-AD Phase 2b study for the experimental atopic dermatitis treatment rezpegaldesleukin. The study demonstrated that all dosing regimens achieved statistical significance over placebo in improving the Eczema Area and Severity Index at week 16. The high dose showed a 61% mean improvement compared to 31% for placebo, marking a significant milestone for the company. In addition, Piper Sandler has reiterated an Overweight rating on Nektar Therapeutics, highlighting the company’s competitive position after rival Sanofi released underwhelming data for its own atopic dermatitis treatment. Analysts view Nektar’s drug as having a differentiated profile with competitive commercial potential across inflammatory diseases. The positive market reaction to Sanofi’s disappointing results further solidifies Nektar’s competitive edge. These developments underscore the company’s promising outlook in the atopic dermatitis treatment space.
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