With Merck veterans at the helm, Nektar launches subsidiary for pain compound

Nektar has been signaling for months that it planned to create a subsidiary to house analgesic NKTR-181, with a financial partner on board to fuel a commercial launch. Now that it has launched Inheris, the new wholly owned subsidiary, Nektar has yet to disclose a deal with a partner but it has revealed a leadership team that includes a pair of former Merck executives.

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) first announced the subsidiary's formation on its 1Q19 earnings call on May 8. At the time, President and CEO Howard Robin said Nektar was hoping to finalize the subsidiary's capital structure with one or more capital partners on board to help fund the launch of NKTR-181. He said Nektar was expecting outside funding for the subsidiary from equity partners, and "at some point it could very well be a spun-off entity."...