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• Pipeline Overview
• Nektar Proprietary Products
  • NKTR-102
    (PEG-irinotecan)
  • NKTR-118
    (oral PEG-naloxol)
  • NKTR-024
    (amphotericin B inhalation powder)
• Nektar Partnered Products
• Drug Development Platforms

Nektar is developing NKTR-102, a PEGylated form of irinotecan, which was invented by Nektar using its world-leading small molecule PEGylation technology platform. The product is currently in Phase 1 clinical development. Irinotecan is an important chemotherapeutic agent used for the treatment of solid tumors, including colorectal and lung cancers. Irinotecan is a remarkable drug, but it causes neutropenia and severe diarrhea, which exacerbates the misery experienced by cancer patients undergoing irinotecan chemotherapy. By applying Nektar’s small molecule PEGylation technology to irinotecan, NKTR-102 may prove to be a more powerful and tolerable anti-tumor agent.

Preclinical studies show that treatment with NKTR-102 results in significant suppression of tumor growth in an irinotecan-resistant mouse colorectal tumor model. Administration of NKTR-102 in an animal model results in a significantly improved time-concentration profile for the active metabolite of irinotecan as compared to treatment with irinotecan. As a result, in addition to its potential anti-tumor activity, NKTR-102 may significantly reduce the neutropenia and severe diarrhea associated with irinotecan.

NKTR-102 (PEG-irinotecan)