R&D Pipeline

PEGPH20 is an investigational PEGylated form of Halozyme's proprietary recombinant human hyaluronidase under development for the systemic treatment of tumors that accumulate hyaluronan (HA). Emerging data show that most pancreatic cancers surround themselves with a protective hyaluronan-rich matrix, which makes the disease difficult to treat and is an indicator of poor prognosis. PEGPH20 has been shown to deplete this matrix component from the tumor that rapidly changes the tumor microenvironment and metabolism, which may render the tumor more vulnerable to therapy as well as inhibit tumor growth. PEGPH20 is being evaluated in a Phase 3 HALO 301 study as a first-line therapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer. The trial will be conducted at approximately 200 sites with two co-primary endpoints of progression free survival and overall survival in patients receiving investigational new drug PEGPH20 in combination with gemcitabine and ABRAXANE (nab-paclitaxel) compared to gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel alone. Additional clinical studies for PEGPH20 include a Phase 1b clinical study evaluating PEGPH20 in combination with KEYTRUDA^® (pembrolizumab) in relapsed lung and gastric cancer patients; and a Phase 1b/2 clinical collaboration with Eisai evaluating eribulin in combination with PEGPH20 in women with advanced or metastatic, HER2-negative, HA-high breast cancer.

Nektar has an exclusive worldwide license agreement with Halozyme for PEGPH20. As part of the agreement, Nektar is entitled to development and commercial milestones and royalties on product sales of PEGPH20.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic inflammatory disease that occurs when the body's own immune system mistakenly attacks healthy tissue in skin, joints, kidneys, the brain and other organs. It is a difficult disease to diagnose because it resembles several other conditions.

CD40L is a protein in B and T cells, which helps regulate the immune system. Dapirolizumab pegol (Anti-CD40L) is an antibody that blocks CD40L, potentially lessening disease activity in SLE patients. Dapirolizumab pegol is being developed by Biogen and UCB, Inc. in a Phase 2 clinical trial to evaluate the efficacy and safety of dapirolizumab pegol in patients with moderately to severely active systemic lupus erythematosus. For more information about this study, visit clinicaltrials.gov.

NKTR-255 is a memory T cell stimulating cytokine designed to engage the IL-15 pathway to enhance and sustain long-term T cell memory response to treat cancer.