If Nektar has comw up with this drug, it would seem that they have assembled the talent and built an enviroment that can innovate in this area. I know in my simple job, when I solve on problem it often leads the way to solving another.
If this is the case here, then wouldn’t this team be valuable in and of itself?
I couldn’t really tell you because I haven’t looked in detail at the management team. I don’t think I would be able to access the talent. My guess, though, would be that the people who work at NKTR are for the most part replaceable. I would think that the company and the program at NKTR would go on just fine even if they lost any one person.
I would also guess that NKTR’s value really lies with 2 aspects:
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They have developed molecules that can modulate the immune system. I tried to fine what their molecules actually are but couldn’t find that information. Someone said that they are monoclonal antibodies but I don’t think that that is the case. I think that they are proteins, specifically, naturally occurring messenger proteins, that have been modified by adding molecules onto them to alter their pharmacology to direct various parts of the immune system to be activated/enhanced or to be deactivated/down regulated. In this way they can target components of the immune system to be recruited to target or destroy foreign material (cancer) in the body. They are adding polymers to these proteins and the polymers may change the activity, specificity, and/or half-life which can all be important in properly directing the immune system in a specific way. So they are using them either to 1) activate the immune system to target and destroy cancer, or 2) tune down the immune system to prevent autoimmune reactions in diseases like arthritis or psoriasis. So to summarize this point, the value is in the actual molecules that they have engineered; these specific molecules can be protected by patents for a period of 20 years from the filing date.
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There is also value in the general technology that NKTR is using to modify molecules. There is some information about this on their website:
http://www.nektar.com/science/research-platform
In addition, NKTR has created value by advancing their drugs through the development process. The clinical success that they have demonstrated gives them a lead over other companies that haven’t advanced their drugs as far or without the same level of efficacy or tolerability.
NKTR has also created value by establishing partnerships. Doesn’t matter so much to me what BMS knows or doesn’t know. BMS is one of if not the most advanced pharma company in the I-O field, and the fact that NKTR has such a broad partnership with this leading company with many resources to provide to NKTR has created tremendous value to NKTR. The cash and expertise provided by BMS not only speeds their pipeline development but also greatly reduces the financial risk to investors on the NKTR investment (the chance of NKTR running out of cash or having future difficultly in funding its efforts is pretty much addressed).
To monitor NKTR’s success as an investment, we should be mainly following 3 things:
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How successful are the clinical trials.
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Are the drugs advancing to eventual approval. #1 directly influences #2. Each time NKTR advances a clinical trial or starts a new one, NKTR is moving toward approval to market.
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New partnerships which allow NKTR to get more cash and advance more drugs for more indications. These will adding to the number of shots on goal that NKTR has. I expect that there will be several more partnerships, maybe 2-3 more announced during 2018: probably one for NKTR-181 for distribution and maybe a couple more for I-O or immunology for another autoimmune disease.
So, NKTR’s team is not something that I have looked to. I look to the success in all the other areas outlined above which tells me that NKTR is well run and has good people.
Chris