BioCentury
ARTICLE | Strategy

Nektar's Next Step

September 28, 2009 7:00 AM UTC

Nektar Therapeutics had expected to become profitable in mid-2007 based on royalties from Exubera inhaled insulin. Instead, partner Pfizer Inc. terminated the diabetes drug from its portfolio that October because it failed to gain acceptance from patients and physicians.

But even before Exubera imploded, Nektar had begun to change its focus from the formulation deals that had been its bread and butter, to developing its own products(see BioCentury, Feb. 6, 2006). Last week, the company announced progress along that path in the form of a deal with AstraZeneca plc for its lead program...