NEKTAR THERAPEUTICS
For the period ended Mar 31, 2025. Filed May 9, 2025.
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Mar 31, 2025 · Filed May 9, 2025
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Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
March 31, 2025
Note 1 — Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Organization
Nektar Therapeutics (Nektar, we) is a clinical stage, research-based drug discovery biopharmaceutical company headquartered in San Francisco, California and incorporated in Delaware, focused on discovering and developing innovative medicines in the field of immunotherapy. Within this growing field, we direct our efforts toward creating new immunomodulatory agents that selectively induce, amplify, attenuate or prevent immune responses in order to achieve desired therapeutic outcomes. Our pipeline of clinical-stage and preclinical-stage immunomodulatory agents targets the treatment of autoimmune diseases (e.g. rezpegaldesleukin and NKTR-0165, respectively) and cancer (e.g. NKTR-255).
We are conducting Phase 2b trials in rezpegaldesleukin in patients with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis which we initiated in October 2023 and in patients with severe-to-very severe alopecia areata which we initiated in March 2024. On February 24, 2025, we announced that we had entered into a collaboration agreement with TrialNet to evaluate rezpegaldesleukin in patients with new onset stage 3 type 1 diabetes mellitus in a Phase 2 study. TrialNet will conduct and fund the study. TrialNet is sponsored and funded by the National Institutes of Health, primarily through the Special Statutory Funding Program for Type 1 Diabetes through the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Nektar will supply rezpegaldesleukin for the study and will retain all rights to the rezpegaldesleukin program under the collaboration.
Our research and development activities have required significant ongoing investment to date and are expected to continue to require significant investment. As a result, we expect to continue to incur substantial losses and negative cash flows from operations in the future. We have financed our operations primarily through cash generated from licensing, collaboration and manufacturing agreements and financing transactions. As of March 31, 2025, we had approximately$220.7 million in cash and investments in marketable securities.
As we continue our research and development activities, we will need additional cash to fund our operations. Accordingly, we may enter into new collaboration agreements or other similar transactions, and we may also seek financing transactions, which may include dilutive equity-based financings, such as an offering of our common stock. There can be no assurance that any additional collaboration agreements or financings will be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. We believe we have sufficient cash and investments in marketable securities to fund operations through at least the next twelve months from the date of the filing of these financial statements.
We filed a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 and a related prospectus (the Shelf Registration Statement) that was declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) on April 1, 2025. Pursuant to the Shelf Registration Statement, we may offer and sell common stock, preferred stock, debt securities, warrants and or units having an aggregate public offering price of up to $300.0 million. In connection with the filing of the Shelf Registration Statement, we also entered into an equity distribution agreement (the Sales Agreement) with Piper Sandler & Co. and BTIG, LLC, relating to the sale of our common stock having an aggregate offering price of up to $75.0 million. We have agreed to pay Piper Sandler & Co. and BTIG, LLC a commission equal to 3.0% of the gross sales price of all common stock sold through them as sales agents. As of March 31, 2025, no shares have been issued under the Shelf Registration Statement or the Sales Agreement.
Sale of Manufacturing Facility
On December 2, 2024, we completed the sale of our manufacturing facility located in Huntsville, Alabama (the Facility) and certain other manufacturing assets related thereto, including the assignment of our existing manufacturing and supply obligations, to Gannet BioChem, an affiliate of Ampersand Management LLC d/b/a Ampersand Capital Partners (Ampersand), via an Asset Purchase Agreement (the APA), for consideration of $64.7 millionin cash, net of transaction costs, and an approximate 20% equity ownership at the time of close in Gannet BioChem. See Note 4 for additional information. As a result of the sale of the Facility, we no longer recognize product sales or cost of goods sold.
Basis of Presentation and Principles of Consolidation
We have prepared our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements pursuant to U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (U.S. GAAP) and the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim reporting. As permitted under those rules, we may condense or omit certain footnotes or other financial information that are normally required by U.S. GAAP for annual periods. In the opinion of management, these financial statements include all normal and recurring adjustments that we consider necessary for the fair presentation of our financial position and operating results.
Our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of our wholly-owned subsidiaries. In determining whether we are the primary beneficiary of a variable interest entity, we consider whether we have both the power to direct activities of the entity that most significantly impact the entity’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of, or the right to receive benefits from, the entity that could potentially be significant to that entity. We do not have any interests in any variable interest entities of which we are the primary beneficiary. We have eliminated all intercompany accounts and transactions in consolidation.
Our Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are denominated in U.S. dollars. Accordingly, changes in exchange rates between the applicable foreign currency and the U.S. dollar will affect the translation of each foreign subsidiary’s financial results into U.S. dollars for purposes of reporting our consolidated financial results. We include translation gains and losses in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the stockholders’ equity section of our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Our comprehensive loss consists of our net loss plus our foreign currency translation gains and losses (to the extent recognized in other comprehensive income (loss)) and unrealized gains and losses on available-for-sale securities. There were no significant reclassifications out of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) to the statements of operations during the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024. We include translation gains and losses in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the stockholders’ equity section of our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets. However, if we have concluded that we have substantially liquidated the entity, such as for our subsidiary in India, we recognize subsequent translation gains and losses in other income (expense) in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations.
The accompanying Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are unaudited. The Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet data as of December 31, 2024 was derived from the audited consolidated financial statements which are included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024 filed with the SEC on March 14, 2025. The information included in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to those financial statements.
Revenue, expenses, assets, and liabilities can vary during each quarter of the year. The results and trends in these interim Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for the full year or any other period.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with U.S. GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Accounting estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain.
Actual results could differ materially from those estimates and assumptions. As appropriate, we assess estimates each period, update them to reflect current information, and generally reflect any changes in estimates in the period first identified.
Related Parties
Transactions between related parties are considered to be related party transactions even though they may not be given accounting recognition. ASC 850, Related Party Disclosures (ASC 850) requires that transactions with related parties that would make a difference in decision making shall be disclosed so that users of the financial statements can evaluate their significance. Please see Note 4 regarding our related party transactions with Gannet BioChem.
Significant Concentrations
Our customers are primarily pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies with whom we have multi-year arrangements. Before the sale of the Facility, our accounts receivable balance primarily contained trade receivables from product sales. We havenot recorded provisions for credit losses for thethree months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024. Accounts receivable at March 31, 2025 are immaterial due to the sale of the Facility in December 2024.
We are dependent on our suppliers and contract manufacturers to provide raw materials and drugs of appropriate quality and reliability and to meet applicable contract and regulatory requirements. In certain cases, our suppliers and contract manufacturers may rely on single sources of supply of one or more critical materials. As a result of the sale of the Facility, we are dependent on Gannet BioChem for the supply of the polyethylene glycol reagents (PEG reagents) used in the manufacture of rezpegaldesleukin and NKTR-255. Consequently, in the event that supplies are delayed or interrupted for any reason, our ability to develop and produce our drug candidates or our ability to meet our supply obligations could be significantly impaired, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
For our available-for-sale securities, we have significant concentrations of issuers in the banking and financial services industries. While our investment policy requires that we only invest in highly-rated securities and limit our exposure to any single issuer, various factors may materially affect the financial condition of issuers. Additionally, pursuant to our investment policy, we may sell securities before maturity if the issuer’s credit rating has been downgraded below our minimum credit rating requirements, which may result in a loss on the sale. Accordingly, if various factors result in downgrades below our minimum credit rating requirements and if we decide to sell these securities, we may experience losses on such sales.
Treasury Stock
We record treasury stock activities under the cost method. Treasury stock is included in authorized and issued shares but excluded from outstanding shares. The re-issuance of treasury stock is accounted for on a first-in, first-out basis and any differences between the cost of treasury stock and the re-issuance proceeds are charged or credited to additional paid-in capital.
Restructuring
In April 2022 and April 2023, we announced certain restructuring plans (the 2022 Restructuring Plan and the 2023 Restructuring Plan, respectively), pursuant to which we terminated significant portions of our workforce and have decided to sublease all of our leased premises in San Francisco, CA, including our office space on Third St. and our office and laboratory space on Mission Bay Blvd. South.
We recognize restructuring charges related to reorganization plans that have been committed to by management when liabilities have been incurred. In connection with these activities, we record restructuring charges at fair value forcontract termination costs incurred when we cancel the contract in accordance with its terms, or for costs to be incurred over the remaining contract term without economic benefit to us at the cease-use date.
Long-Lived Asset Impairment
Weassess the impairment of long-lived assets whenever events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying amounts of the assets may not be fully recoverable. In the case of property and equipment and right-of-use assets for our leases, we determine whether there has been an impairment by comparing the carrying value of the asset to the anticipated undiscounted net cash flows associated with the asset. If such cash flows are less than the carrying value, we write down the asset toits fair value, which may be measured as anticipated net cash flows associated with the asset, discounted at a rate that we believe a market participant would utilize to reflect the risks associated with the cash flows, such as credit risk.
Equity Method Investment
Our investment in Gannet BioChem is considered a variable interest entity for which we are not the primary beneficiary. We use the equity method of accounting to account for our investment in Gannet BioChem, which is an entity that we do not control, but have the ability to exert significant influence. Judgments regarding the level of influence over the equity method investment include consideration of key factors such as our ownership interest, representation on the board of directors or participation in policy-making decisions.
Under the equity method of accounting, our investment in Gannet BioChem is initially recorded at fair value. The carrying value of the investment is subsequently adjusted based on our share of the net income or loss of the entity which we present as gain or loss from equity method investment in our Condensed Consolidated Statement of Operations. We record our share of the equity method investment’s results of operations on a three-month lag basis.
Due to Ampersand’s right to receive a cumulative preferred dividend at a certain annual rate of return and return of capital before any distributions are made to us as further disclosed in Note 4, we record our gain or loss on our investment in Gannet BioChem under the hypothetical liquidation at book value (HLBV) method.
The HLBV method is a balance sheet approach that calculates the change in the hypothetical amount Ampersand and we would be entitled to receive if Gannet BioChem were liquidated at book value at the end of each period, adjusted for any contributions made and distributions received during the period, as well as basis differences between the initial fair value of our investment in Gannet BioChem and our claim on the net assets of Gannet BioChem. Our maximum exposure to loss in Gannet BioChem is limited to the carrying value of our investment.
We evaluate our equity method investment at the end of each reporting period to determine whether events or changes in business circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the investment may not be recoverable. This evaluation consists of several qualitative and quantitative factors that may include recent financial results, projected financial results and operating trends of the investees and other publicly available information that may affect the value of our investment.
Net Loss per Share
For all periods presented in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations, the net loss available to common stockholders is equal to the reported net loss. We calculate basic net loss per share based on the weighted-average number of common shares outstanding, including the pre-funded warrant, during the periods presented. Shares of common stock into which the pre-funded warrant may be exercised are considered outstanding for the purposes of computing basic net loss per share because the shares may be issued for little or no consideration, are fully vested and are exercisable after the original issuance date. For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, basic and diluted net loss per share are the same due to our net losses and the requirement to exclude potentially dilutive securities which would have an antidilutive effect on net loss per share. Weexcluded shares underlying the weighted average outstanding stock options, restricted stock units (RSUs) and performance stock units (PSUs), as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Potentially dilutive securities | 34,698 | 26,973 |
Recent Accounting Pronouncements
In November 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires disclosure of incremental segment information on an annual and interim basis for all public entities. The amendments do not change how a public entity identifiesits operating segments, aggregates those operating segments, or applies the quantitative thresholds to determine its reportable segments. ASU 2023-07 is effective for annual reporting beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, and for interim periods thereafter. Weadopted the fiscal year standard for the period beginning January 1, 2024 on a retrospective basis which resulted in updated segment disclosures. For more information on the updated segment disclosures, refer to Note 10.
In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures, which will require incremental income tax disclosures on an annual basis for all public entities. The amendments require that public business entities disclose specific categories in the rate reconciliation and provide additional information for reconciling items meeting a quantitative threshold. The amendments also require disclosure of income taxes paid to be disaggregated by jurisdiction, and disclosure of income tax expense disaggregated by federal, state, and foreign. ASU 2023-09 is effective for annual reporting beginning with the fiscal year ending December 31, 2025. We are currently evaluating the incremental disclosures that will be required in our consolidated financial statements.
In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU No. 2024-03, Income Statement—Reporting Comprehensive Income—Expense Disaggregation Disclosures (Subtopic 220-40): Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses, an accounting standard update that requires the Company to disclose more detailed information about the types of expenses (including employee compensation, depreciation, and amortization) included in each relevant income statement expense caption. The ASU is effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. Early adoption is permitted. We are currently evaluating the incremental disclosures that will be required in our consolidated financial statements.
Note 2 — Cash and Investments in Marketable Securities
Cash and investments in marketable securities, including cash equivalents, are as follows (in thousands):
| Estimated Fair Value at | ||
|---|---|---|
| March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |
| Cash and cash equivalents | $38,894 | $44,252 |
| Short-term investments | 179,738 | 210,974 |
| Long-term investments | 2,019 | 13,869 |
| Total cash and investments in marketable securities | $220,651 | $269,095 |
Our portfolio of cash and investments in marketable securities consists of the following (in thousands):
| March 31, 2025 · December 31, 2024 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fair Value Hierarchy Level · Amortized Cost · Gross Unrealized Gains · Gross Unrealized Losses · Fair Value · Fair Value | |||||||||
| Corporate notes and bonds | 2 | $97,017 | $44 | $(21) | $97,040 | $109,711 | |||
| Corporate commercial paper | 2 | 85,514 | 14 | (22) | 85,506 | 119,542 | |||
| Available-for-sale investments | $182,531 | $58 | $(43) | $182,546 | $229,253 | ||||
| Money market funds | 1 | 16,882 | 15,993 | ||||||
| Certificates of deposit | 2 | 14,099 | 14,027 | ||||||
| Cash | N/A | 7,124 | 9,822 | ||||||
| Total cash and investments in marketable securities | $220,651 | $269,095 | |||||||
For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, there were no transfers between Level 1 and Level 2 of the fair value hierarchy. All of our long-term investments as of March 31, 2025 had maturities betweenone andtwo years. As of March 31, 2025, we had 41 investments in unrealized loss positions andno investments had been in continuous unrealized loss positions for 12 months or longer. At December 31, 2024, our gross unrealized gains and losses were insignificant.
Note 3 — Condensed Consolidated Financial Statement Details
Other Current Assets
Other current assets consist of the following (in thousands):
| March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Prepaid research and development expenses | $7,359 | $1,947 |
| Interest and other non-trade receivables | 1,714 | 1,609 |
| Other prepaid expenses | 2,208 | 2,510 |
| Total other current assets | $11,281 | $6,066 |
Accrued Expenses
Accrued expenses consist of the following (in thousands):
| March 31, 2025 | December 31, 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Accrued compensation | $5,026 | $2,832 |
| Accrued research and development expenses | 11,819 | 14,453 |
| Accrued contract termination costs | 2,825 | 2,767 |
| Other accrued expenses | 11,584 | 9,920 |
| Total accrued expenses | $31,254 | $29,972 |
Liabilities Related to the Sales of Future Royalties
In 2012 and 2020, we sold to RPI Finance Trust (RPI) and entities managed by Healthcare Royalty Management, LLC (HCR), respectively, our rights to receive royalties under our license and manufacturing agreements with certain pharmaceutical partners under the 2012 Purchase and Sale Agreement and the 2020 Purchase and Sale Agreement, respectively. We account for these transactions as debt and recognize non-cash royalty revenue and non-cash interest expense to amortize the proceeds over the lives of the respective arrangements. We periodically update our prospective non-cash interest rate based on our estimates of future royalties. As of March 31, 2025, our imputed interest rate for the arrangement with HCR was 23%.
The original 2020 Purchase and Sale Agreement was to expire -- and wherein the right to receive royalties would revert to us -- if HCR received aggregate royalties of $210.0 million on or prior to December 31, 2025 (the 2025 Threshold), or, if the 2025 Threshold was not achieved by December 31, 2025, when HCR received aggregate royalties of $240.0 million. On March 4, 2024, Nektar and HCR amended the original 2020 Purchase and Sale Agreement (the Amendment), pursuant to which the parties agreed to remove our reversionary rights in the royalties in exchange for a $15.0 million payment from HCR. Accordingly, HCR will receive all future royalties of the products, and none of these royalties will return to Nektar. We accounted for the Amendment as a modification of the existing arrangement, and therefore recorded the $15.0 million proceeds as an increase to the liability.
The following is a reconciliation of the changes in our liabilities related to the sales of future royalties for thethree months ended March 31, 2025 (in thousands):
| 2012 Purchase and Sale Agreement | 2020 Purchase and Sale Agreement | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liabilities related to the sales of future royalties, net – beginning balance | $7,197 | $84,579 | $91,776 |
| Non-cash royalty revenue | (1,756) | (8,704) | (10,460) |
| Non-cash interest expense | 672 | 4,302 | 4,974 |
| Amortization of transaction costs | — | 32 | 32 |
| Liabilities related to the sales of future royalties, net – ending balance | $6,113 | $80,209 | $86,322 |
Note 4 — Equity Method Investment
As discussed in Note 1, on December 2, 2024, we completed the sale of the Facility and certain other manufacturing assets related thereto, including the assignment of our existing manufacturing and supply obligations, to Gannet BioChem, an affiliate of Ampersand, via the APA, for consideration of $64.7 million in cash, net of transaction costs, and an equity interest in Gannet BioChem.
At closing of the sale of the Facility and at March 31, 2025, we own 20.0 million common units of Gannet BioChem at $1.00 per unit, representing 100% of the common units outstanding, and Ampersand owns 81.5 million preferred units at $1.00 per unit, representing 100% of the preferred units outstanding. In the event of a distribution, to the extent available, the preferred unitholders have priority rights to a cumulative preferred dividend at a certain annual rate of return and a return of their investment before any distributions to common unitholders. After such priority distribution to the preferred unitholders, to the extent available, common unitholders are to receive a distribution of both a cumulative dividend at the same rate as the preferred unitholders’ dividend and a return of their investment, which, for our common units, is equal to $20.0 million (or $1.00 per unit). Any distributions in excess of both of these distributions, if available, are distributed to preferred and common unitholders pro rata.
We have significant influence, but do not control, Gannet BioChem through our noncontrolling representation on Gannet BioChem’s board of directors and our equity interests in Gannet BioChem. Accordingly, we do not consolidate Gannet BioChem and account for our investment in Gannet BioChem using the equity method of accounting. At closing of the sale of the Facility, we estimated the fair value of our equity investment in Gannet BioChem to be $12.2 million, which reflected Ampersand's liquidation preferences described above. We record our share of Gannet BioChem’s gains and losses under the HLBV basis, which reflects Ampersand’s liquidation preferences as described above. The HLBV method is a balance sheet approach that calculates the change in the hypothetical amount we and Ampersand would be entitled to receive if Gannet BioChem were liquidated at book value at the end of each period, adjusted for any contributions made and distributions received during the period, as well as basis differences between the initial fair value of our investment in Gannet BioChem and our claim on the net assets of Gannet BioChem. Our loss of $4.5 million for our investment in Gannet BioChem for the three months ended March 31, 2025 is as follows (in thousands):
| Claim on net assets of Gannet BioChem - beginning of period | $12,218 |
|---|---|
| Claim on net assets of Gannet BioChem - end of period | 7,757 |
| Change in claim on net assets of Gannet BioChem | $(4,461) |
Gannet BioChem is considered a related party to Nektar. Concurrently with the closing of the transaction, we entered into certain ancillary agreements with Gannet BioChem, including supply agreements for rezpegaldesleukin and NKTR-255, and certain services agreements.
Supply Agreements
Under the terms of the supply agreements, Gannet BioChem has agreed to manufacture and supply the PEG reagents for use in clinical trials of these drug candidates at prices defined within the agreements. There areno minimum purchase commitments and Nektar can terminate the agreement for convenience upon prior written notice. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, we didnot make any purchases from Gannet BioChem.
Services Agreements
Pursuant to a transition services agreement and full-time employee equivalent agreement, Nektar is performing certain transition services for the benefit of Gannet BioChem, primarily related to information technology and accounting, and Gannet BioChem is performing certain transition services for the benefit of Nektar, primarily to support research and development activities. The terms of these agreements are no more thantwo years, subject to certain termination provisions. For the three months ended March 31, 2025, we recorded $0.2 millionas research and development expense for services provided by Gannet
BioChemto us and $0.3 million as other income for services provided by us to Gannet BioChem in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.
As of March 31, 2025, we recorded a net payable of $1.4 million to Gannet BioChem, consisting of collection of receivables from Gannet BioChem’s customers, net of payments to Gannet BioChem’s vendors, under the transition services agreement, and amounts billable under the services agreements. We report $0.9 million and $0.5 million of this amount in accrued expenses and accounts payable, respectively, in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Note 5 — Commitments and Contingencies
Legal Matters
From time to time, we are involved in lawsuits, arbitrations, claims, investigations and proceedings, consisting of intellectual property, commercial, employment and other matters, which arise in the ordinary course of business. We make provisions for liabilities when it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount of the loss can be reasonably estimated. Such provisions are reviewed at each reporting date and adjusted to reflect the impact of settlement negotiations, judicial and administrative rulings, advice of legal counsel, and other information and events pertaining to a particular case. Litigation is inherently unpredictable. If any unfavorable ruling were to occur in any specific period, there exists the possibility of a material adverse impact on the results of our operations for that period and on our cash flows and liquidity.
On August 7, 2023, we filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California (the Court) against Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) alleging, among other claims, breach of contract and breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing (the Complaint), in connection with our collaboration with Lilly. Following the denial of its motion to dismiss the Complaint entirely, Lilly filed an answer that included counterclaims against us alleging breach of specified confidentiality provisions and defamation. The case is proceeding.
We have recordedno liability for any litigation matters in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets at either March 31, 2025 or December 31, 2024.
Indemnifications in Connection with Commercial Agreements
As part of our collaboration agreements with our partners related to the license, development, manufacture and supply of drugs and PEG reagents based on our proprietary technologies and drug candidates, we generally agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless our partners from and against third party liabilities arising out of the agreement, including product liability (with respect to our activities) and infringement of intellectual property to the extent the intellectual property is developed by us and licensed to our partners. The term of these indemnification obligations is generally perpetual commencing after execution of the agreement. There is generally no limitation on the potential amount of future payments we could be required to make under these indemnification obligations.
From time to time, we enter into other strategic agreements such as divestitures and financing transactions pursuant to which we are required to make representations and warranties and undertake to perform or comply with certain covenants. For example, we made certain intellectual property representations in connection with our RPI and HCR transactions, however, the time limitation we have to indemnify RPI with respect to any breach of these intellectual property-based representations and warranties has passed. In the event it is determined that we breached certain of the representations and warranties or covenants made by us in any such agreements or certain express indemnification provisions are applicable, we could incur substantial indemnification liabilities depending on the timing, nature, and amount of any such claims.
To date, we have not incurred any costs to defend lawsuits or settle claims related to these indemnification obligations, nor any breaches of representations or warranties or covenants. Because the aggregate amount of any potential indemnification obligation is not a stated amount, we cannot reasonably estimate the overall maximum amount of any such obligations.
Note 6 — Pre-Funded Warrant
In March 2024, we issued a pre-funded warrant to purchase an aggregate of 25,000,000 shares of our common stock to TCG Crossover Fund II, L.P. (TCG) at a price of $1.20 per share for gross proceeds of $30.0 million. Transaction costs were immaterial. The pre-funded warrant has an exercise price of $0.0001 per share and may be exercised at any time after the original issuance date. TCG may not exercise the warrant if TCG, together with its affiliates, would beneficially own more than 9.99% of the number of shares of our common stock outstanding immediately after giving effect to such exercise. TCG may increase or decrease this percentage not in excess of 19.99% by providing at least 61 days prior notice to the Company. On May 28, 2024, we filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-3 (file no. 333-279760) registering for resale of up to 25,000,000 shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of the pre-funded warrant. The registration statement became effective on June 5, 2024. As of March 31, 2025, the warrant has not been exercised.
We classified the pre-funded warrant as a component of permanent equity in our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets as it is a freestanding financial instrument that was immediately exercisable, does not embody an obligation for the Company to repurchase its own shares and permits the holder to receive a fixed number of shares of common stock upon exercise. All of the shares underlying the pre-funded warrant have been included in the weighted-average number of shares of common stock used to calculate net loss per share attributable to common stockholders because the shares may be issued for little or no consideration, are fully vested and are exercisable after the original issuance date of the pre-funded warrant.
Note 7 — License and Collaboration Agreements
We have entered into various collaboration agreements including license agreements and collaborative research, development and commercialization agreements with various pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Under these collaboration arrangements, we are entitled to receive license fees, upfront payments, milestone and other contingent payments, royalties, sales milestone payments, reimbursements for research and development activities and (before the sale of the Facility) payments for the manufacture and supply of our PEG reagents. We generally include our costs of performing these services in research and development expense, except for costs for product sales to our collaboration partners which we include in cost of goods sold. We analyze our agreements to determine whether we should account for the agreements within the scope of ASC 808 Collaborative Arrangements, and, if so, we analyze whether we should account for any elements under ASC 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers.
Biolojic Design, Ltd. (Biolojic): NKTR-0165
In 2021, we entered into a research collaboration and license option agreement with Biolojic to discover and develop agonistic antibodies that activate a novel and previously un-drugged target for the treatment of autoimmune diseases. In 2023, we exercised an option to gain an exclusive license to specified agonistic antibodies and other materials that were developed pursuant this arrangement in all fields of use (other than in the field of oncology). As a result of exercising the option to gain an exclusive license, we may be required to pay up to $18.0 million based on the achievement of certain development milestones, including the first milestone of $3.0 million payable upon the acceptance of the first investigational new drug application, and up to $35.0 million based on the achievement of certain regulatory approval milestones. Each milestone is payable only once, regardless of the number of indications for which we develop the licensed product. We record a liability when a milestone payment becomes probable. As of March 31, 2025, no milestones have been achieved or are considered probable, and no liability has been recorded.
Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (BMS): Bempegaldesleukin, also referred to as NKTR-214
Effective April 3, 2018, we entered into a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (the BMS Collaboration Agreement) and a Share Purchase Agreement with BMS. Pursuant to the BMS Collaboration Agreement, we and BMS jointly developed bempegaldesleukin in combination with BMS’ Opdivo®. The parties shared the internal and external development costs for bempegaldesleukin in combination regimens based on each party’s relative ownership interest in the compounds included in the regimens.
Upon the effective date of the BMS Collaboration Agreement in April 2018, BMS paid us a non-refundable upfront cash payment of $1.0 billion and purchased 8,284,600 sharesof our common stock pursuant to the Share Purchase Agreement for total additional cash consideration of $850.0 million. In 2020, we received additional non-refundable milestone payments of $50.0 million.
In April 2022, we announced that BMS and we decided to discontinue all development of bempegaldesleukin in combination with Opdivo®. On September 6, 2023, BMS and we terminated the BMS Collaboration Agreement, and pursuant to the surviving provisions of the BMS Collaboration Agreement, the cost sharing provisions continued to remain in effect as BMS and we have wound down the bempegaldesleukin program. On February 12, 2024, we repurchased the 8.3 million shares previously sold to BMS for total cash consideration of $3.0 million.
We determined that the BMS Collaboration Agreement falls within the scope of ASC 808. Based on the cost sharing provisions described above, we recognize the net reimbursement to (from) BMS as an increase (decrease) to the applicable expense. For the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, such amounts are immaterial and are included in research and development expense.
Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly): Rezpegaldesleukin (previously referred to as NKTR-358)
On July 23, 2017, we entered into a worldwide license agreement (the Lilly Agreement) with Lilly to co-develop rezpegaldesleukin, a novel immunological drug candidate that we invented, pursuant to which we received an initial payment of $150.0 million and were eligible for up to $250.0 million in additional development and regulatory milestones. On April 23, 2023, we received from Lilly a notice of at-will termination of the Lilly Agreement. We have regained full rights to rezpegaldesleukin from Lilly, and the Lilly Agreement subsequently terminated. Following the return of our rights to develop rezpegaldesleukin, we bear all costs of development.
Other
We have other collaboration agreements that have resulted in commercialized products for our collaborations partners. Under these agreements, we are entitled to receive royalties based on net sales of these products as well as sales milestones. As discussed in Note 3, we have sold our rights to receive royalties from these other collaboration agreements. Our non-cash royalty revenue, which totaled$10.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and$15.5 million for the three months ended March 31, 2024, represents revenue for granting licenses which we had satisfied in prior periods.
We have a collaboration agreement with UCB for dapirolizumab pegol, under which we are entitled to up to a total of $40.0 million of regulatory approval milestones, as well as royalties in the low single digits based on net sales of commercialized products, if any. UCB is developing dapirolizumab pegol, a PEGylated antibody fragment, with Biogen, Inc. for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus. However, given the current phase of development of this product and the uncertainty in clinical development, we have excluded these milestones from the transaction price for this agreement.
We have not sold our rights to receive these milestones or royalties from dapirolizumab pegol under the APA for the sale of the Facility, and the assignment of the supply agreements to Gannet BioChem does not alter the potential milestones and potential royalties payable by UCB to us pursuant to the collaboration agreement for dapirolizumab pegol nor the non-cash royalties payable under our collaboration agreement for CIMZIA®.
Note 8 — Restructuring and Impairment
In connection with our 2022 and 2023 Restructuring Plans, restructuring and impairment includes the following (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Impairment of right-of-use assets and property, plant and equipment | $— | $— |
| Contract termination and other restructuring costs | 169 | 975 |
| Restructuring and impairment | $169 | $975 |
Impairment of Long-Lived Assets
As a result of our 2022 and 2023 Restructuring Plans, we decided to seek a sublease for all of our leased spaces on Third Street and Mission Bay Blvd. South. Accordingly, we evaluate each space for impairment when management decides to sublease the respective space and at each reporting date thereafter, as facts and circumstances change. The significant assumptions in our impairment analysis relate to sublease income, including the length of time to enter into a sublease, sublease rental payments, free rent periods, tenant improvement allowances and broker commissions. When available, we use sublease negotiations or agreements, but in the absence of such information, we develop our own subjective estimates based on current real estate trends and market conditions. Accordingly, our estimates are subject to significant risk, and the terms of sublease agreements, if any, and the resulting amount and timing of sublease income, if ever realized, may be materially different than our estimates.
As part of our evaluation of each sublease space, we separately compare the estimated undiscounted sublease income, as described above, for each sublease to the net book value of the related long-term assets, which include right-of-use assets and certain property, plant and equipment, primarily for leasehold improvements (collectively, sublease assets). If such sublease income exceeds the net book value of the sublease assets, we do not record an impairment charge. Otherwise, we record an impairment charge by reducing the net book value of the sublease assets to their estimated fair value, which we determined by discounting the estimated sublease income using the estimated borrowing rate of a market participant subtenant.
We recordedno impairment charges forthree months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024.
Contract Termination and Other Costs
We have incurred significant contract termination costs in connection with our Restructuring Plans. Because we continue to adjust the liability based on updates to our assumptions at each reporting date, we continue to recognize expense as our estimates change until settlement.
The following are reconciliations of the contract termination and other costs forthree months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024 (in thousands):
| For the Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Liability balances as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively | $9,078 | $5,542 |
| Expense recognized during the period | 169 | 975 |
| Payments during the period | (554) | (928) |
| Liability balances as of March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively | $8,693 | $5,589 |
As of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024, we report $2.8 million within accrued expenses and the remaining amounts within other long-term liabilities on our Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets.
Note 9 — Stock-Based Compensation
We recognized total stock-based compensation expense in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations as follows (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Cost of goods sold | $— | $633 |
| Research and development | 1,436 | 2,280 |
| General and administrative | 2,462 | 3,087 |
| Total stock-based compensation | $3,898 | $6,000 |
Note 10 — Segment Reporting
We operate inone business segment which focuses on applying our expertise to develop novel drug candidates. Our business offerings have similar economics and other characteristics, including the nature of products and manufacturing processes, types of customers, distribution methods and regulatory environment. We are comprehensively managed asone business segment by our Chief Executive Officer, who is our chief operating decision maker (CODM).
The CODM assesses the performance of the Company and decides how to allocate resources based upon net loss that is also reported within the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The measure of segment assets that is reviewed by the CODM is reported within the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet as total assets. The following is a summary of the significant expense categories and consolidated net loss details provided to the CODM (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Revenue: | $10,460 | $21,639 |
| Operating costs and expenses: | ||
| Cost of goods sold | — | 8,534 |
| Clinical development, contract manufacturing and other third party costs | ||
| Rezpegaldesleukin (cytokine Treg stimulant) | 13,803 | 8,884 |
| NKTR-255 (IL-15 receptor agonist) | 1,389 | 3,486 |
| NKTR-0165 (tumor necrosis factor receptor type II agonist) | 2,281 | 2,018 |
| Discovery research and other programs | 469 | 1,067 |
| Total clinical development, contract manufacturing and other third party costs | 17,942 | 15,455 |
| Employee costs (a)(b) | 11,974 | 10,317 |
| Facilities costs (a) | 3,358 | 4,532 |
| Other operating costs (a)(c) | 17,260 | 11,205 |
| Other segment expenses | 4,461 | 7,023 |
| Total operating costs and expenses | 54,995 | 57,066 |
| Loss from operations | (44,535) | (35,427) |
| Non-operating income (expense): | ||
| Non-cash interest expense on liability related to sale of future royalties | (4,974) | (5,531) |
| Interest income | 2,874 | 4,220 |
| Other income (expense), net | 266 | (99) |
| Total non-operating income (expense), net | (1,834) | (1,410) |
| Loss before provision (benefit) for income taxes and equity method investment | (46,369) | (36,837) |
| Provision (benefit) for income taxes | 52 | (35) |
| Loss before equity method investment | (46,421) | (36,802) |
| Loss from equity method investment | (4,461) | — |
| Net loss | $(50,882) | $(36,802) |
Other segment expense items included within net loss include the following (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended March 31, | ||
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2024 | |
| Contract termination costs | $169 | $975 |
| Stock-based compensation (a) | 3,898 | 5,367 |
| Depreciation and amortization expense (a) | 394 | 681 |
| Total other segment expenses | $4,461 | $7,023 |
a)
Employee costs, facilities costs, other operating costs, stock-based compensation expense and depreciation and amortization expense include amounts reported in research and development expense and general and administrative expense in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. Such amounts reported in cost of goods sold in our Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations are included in cost of goods sold in the summary of significant segment expenses.
b)
Includes compensation and benefits for our employees and costs for our contractors and temporary workers.
c)
Includes legal and patent expenses, information technology infrastructure and other costs, professional accounting, insurance, travel and entertainment and other third-party services and expenses.
Item 2. Management’s Discussion and A
The text of this filing, as the company filed it with the SEC, without its images or exhibits. This is not investment advice.