Phase III pain readout drives up Nektar shares

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) gained $6.61 (43%) to $22.11 on Monday after it said analgesic NKTR-181 met the primary endpoint in the Phase III SUMMIT-07 trial to treat chronic low back pain. Specifically, the oral mu opioid receptor (OPRM1; MOR) agonist led to a smaller increase in weekly average pain score at the end of the randomization period vs. placebo (0.92 vs. 1.46 points, p=0.0019).

Following an open-label period in which patients were titrated to an effective dose of NKTR-181, patients were randomized to receive NKTR-181 or placebo for 12 weeks. During the titration period, pain scores fell an average of 65%, from 6.73 points at screening to 2.32 points at randomization...