Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) rose in Monday trading, as the company and Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) reported the first presentation of data from PIVOT study.
The National Harbor, Maryland-based Nektar announced the first presentation of data from the PIVOT-02 Phase 1/2 Study, which is designed to evaluate the combination of Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo (nivolumab) with Nektar's investigational medicine, NKTR-214. The initial results presented at the 2017 Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Annual Meeting reported both safety and efficacy data for patients enrolled in the dose-escalation phase of the trial.
Opdivo is a PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor designed to overcome immune suppression. NKTR-214 is an investigational immuno-stimulatory therapy designed to expand and activate specific cancer-fighting T cells and natural killer (NK) cells directly in the tumor micro-environment and increase expression of cell-surface PD-1 on these immune cells.
According to Nektar Senior Official Mary Tagliaferri, "In the dose-escalation stage of the PIVOT trial, we've observed important response rates across all three tumor types – melanoma, renal cell carcinoma and non-small lung cancer - in both PD-L1 positive and PD-L1 negative patients.
"All patients with responses in the trial continue on treatment. Of note, we observed responses in 3 of 4 Stage IV non-small cell lung cancer patients whose tumors did not express PD-L1 and who had progressed on prior chemotherapy, including one patient who experienced a complete response
With about a half-hour left in Monday’s trading, Nektar had sprung skyward $4.93, or 15.2%, to $37.43, while BMY shares nicked up 12 cents to $60.98.
