Nektar Therapeutics Reports Third Quarter 2009 Financi...( SAN CARLOS Calif. Nov. 4 /- Nektar Th...)

SAN CARLOS, Calif., Nov. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR) today reported its financial results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2009.

Net loss for the quarter ended September 30, 2009 improved to $31.0 million or $0.33 per share, as compared to a net loss of $37.0 million or $0.40 per share in the third quarter of 2008.

Nektar continued to make improvements to its operating efficiencies as compared to a year ago. Total operating costs and expenses were down 30% to $39.1 million in the third quarter of 2009 as compared to $56.0 million in the third quarter of 2008. For the first nine months of 2009, total operating costs and expenses were down 29% to $122.6 million as compared to $171.6 million in the first nine months of 2008.

"We are extremely pleased with our success in the third quarter," said Howard W. Robin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nektar. "We signed a landmark collaboration with AstraZeneca for NKTR-118 and NKTR-119 that highlights the compelling value we are creating in our clinical pipeline. We are also making great progress with NKTR-102, with enrollment in our Phase 2 ovarian cancer study completed ahead of schedule. Our clinical results continue to validate the potential of Nektar's proprietary advanced polymer conjugate technology in creating important new therapeutics."

Research and development expense was $23.5 million in the third quarter of 2009 as compared to $38.3 million for the same quarter in 2008. For the first nine months of 2009, research and development expense was $71.5 million as compared to $109.1 million in the same period in 2008. Included in the $71.5 million of overall research and development expenses in the first nine months of 2009 is approximately $40.0 million of investment in Nektar preclinical and clin
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