William Blair analyst Andy Hsieh has maintained their neutral stance on NKTR stock, giving a Hold rating on December 9.
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Andy Hsieh has given his Hold rating due to a combination of factors related to Nektar Therapeutics’ recent clinical trial results. The company’s drug, rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), demonstrated some clinical activity in treating alopecia areata, although it did not achieve statistical significance on its primary endpoint. The trial results showed a modest reduction in the Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) scores, with a decrease of about 28%-30% in the treatment group compared to 11.2% in the placebo group.
Despite these results, when patients with protocol violations were excluded, the treatment’s efficacy appeared more promising, with a SALT change of 30% versus 5.7% for placebo. However, the responder rate for achieving at most 20% hair loss was lower than a competing drug, Olumiant, indicating that while rezpeg shows potential, it may not be as effective as existing treatments. This mixed outcome, coupled with the possibility of increased effect size over time, has led Andy Hsieh to adopt a cautious stance, resulting in a Hold rating for the stock.
In another report released on December 9, TR | OpenAI – 4o also reiterated a Hold rating on the stock with a $58.00 price target.