US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR) announced on Monday its oral presentation highlighting preclinical data on NKTR-422 at the 2024 American College of Rheumatology (ACR) conference, being held in Washington, D.C. from 14-19 November 2024.

NKTR-422 is a novel modified hematopoietic colony stimulating factor (CSF) protein engineered to selectively modulate resolution processes of inflammation by targeting the expansion, reprograming and activation of anti-inflammatory tissue resident macrophages.

Nektar has discovered a CSF-1R agonist, NKTR-422, with a differentiated pharmacokinetic (PK)/pharmacodynamic (PD) profile compared to the native CSF-1 cytokine. Reduced clearance allows sustained PD activity from a single dose, unlike historical multiple dose per day required regimens of recombinant human CSF-1 administration. NKTR-422 demonstrated inflammation resolution and tissue repair markers induction in tissue resident macrophages without induction of monocytosis and improved the efficacy of inflammatory cytokine blockade in rodent models.

Jonathan Zalevsky, PhD, Nektar's senior vice president and chief research & development officer, said: "These early data demonstrate that NKTR-422 has the potential to accelerate treatment efficacy and may improve disease remission, especially in combination treatments with standard of care inflammatory cytokine blockade drugs. We're excited to see how this program progresses given its wide potential applications in a number of therapeutic indications including acute and chronic inflammation."