Nektar to cut 70% of staff; Nuyten, Northcott to depart

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ:NKTR) said it will reduce its workforce by 70% on the heels of the failure of its IL-2 program, with departures including CMO Dimitry Nuyten and Chief Commercial Officer John Northcott. Nuyten will be succeeded by Head of Immunology Brian Kotzin. The company, which announced the moves late Monday, said it is restructuring to extend its cash into 1H25. Nektar expects to end the year with $440-$450 million in cash and investments and no debt; it also expects to take an impairment charge related to bempegaldesleukin of $150-$160 million in 2Q22.

Michael Klichinsky, co-founder of Carisma Therapeutics Inc. and co-inventor of its engineered macrophage platform, is now also the company’s CSO. Klichinsky was previously SVP, research at the company, and developed its chimeric antigen receptor macrophage technology as a Ph.D. student at the University of Pennsylvania. ...