Nektar Therapeutics Reports Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2016 Financial Results

Nektar Therapeutics Reports Fourth Quarter

and Year-End 2016 Financial Results

SAN FRANCISCO, March 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics

(Nasdaq: NKTR) today reported its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2016.

Cash and investments in marketable securities at December 31, 2016

were $389.1 million as compared to $308.9 million at December 31, 2015.

"Nektar begins 2017 in a strong position with highly promising

wholly-owned immuno-oncology and immunology clinical programs and several important data readouts expected throughout this year,"

said Howard W. Robin, President and Chief Executive Officer of Nektar. "Our Phase 1/2 study evaluating NKTR-214 as a potential

combination treatment regimen with Opdivo in collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb is proceeding nicely. We plan to

report initial data from the dose-escalation part of the study in the middle of this year. Later this month, we will have

data from our Phase 3 efficacy study of NKTR-181 in patients with chronic low back pain. Finally, we are pleased that we

will initiate a first-in-human trial shortly for NKTR-358, our proprietary T regulatory cell stimulator, which has the potential

to become a first-in-class resolution therapeutic for a wide range of immune disorders."

Summary of Financial Results

Revenue for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $37.5 million as compared

to $39.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Revenue for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $165.4 million

as compared to $230.8 million in 2015. Revenue in 2016 included recognition of $31.0 million from AstraZeneca as a result

of its sublicense of MOVENTIG (naloxegol) to Kyowa Kirin in Europe. In addition, product sales, royalty revenue, and

non-cash royalty revenue increased in 2016 compared to 2015. Revenue in 2015 included recognition of a total of $130.0 million

of milestone payments from AstraZeneca following the first commercial sale of MOVANTIK in the U.S. in Q1 2015 and the first

commercial sale of MOVENTIG in the EU in Q3 2015.

Total operating costs and expenses in the fourth quarter of 2016

were $69.6 million as compared to $68.7 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. Total operating costs and expenses increased primarily

as a result of higher research and development (R&D) expense. Total operating costs and expenses for the year ended December

31, 2016 were $278.3 million as compared to $260.2 million in 2015.

R&D expense in the fourth quarter of 2016 was $50.2 million

as compared to $47.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2015. R&D expense for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $203.8

million as compared to $182.8 million in 2015. R&D expense increased primarily due to expenses for our NKTR-214 and NKTR-358

General and administrative (G&A) expense was $12.8 million in

the fourth quarter of 2016 as compared to $13.2 million in the fourth quarter of 2015. G&A expense for the year ended

December 31, 2016 was $44.3 million as compared to $43.3 million in 2015.

Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2016 was $42.2 million or $0.28

loss per share as compared to a net loss of $54.1 million or $0.40 loss per share in the fourth quarter of 2015. Net loss

for the year ended December 31, 2016 was $153.5 million or $1.10 loss per share as compared to a net loss of $81.2 million or $0.61

loss per share in 2015.

2016 and Year-to-Date Business Highlights

Nektar Wholly-Owned Programs

Additional Pipeline and Partner Developments

Conference Call to Discuss Fourth Quarter and Year-End 2016 Financial

Nektar management will host a conference call to review the results

beginning at 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time/2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today, Wednesday, March 1, 2017.

This press release and a live audio-only Webcast of the conference

call can be accessed through a link that is posted on the home page and Investors section of the Nektar website: http://www.nektar.com.

The web broadcast of the conference call will be available for replay through Monday, April 3, 2017.

To access the conference call, follow these instructions:

Dial: (877) 881.2183 (U.S.); (970) 315.0453 (international)

Passcode: 75461730 (Nektar Therapeutics is the host)

In the event that any non-GAAP financial measure is discussed on

the conference call that is not described in the press release, or explained on the conference call, related information will be

made available on the Investors page at the Nektar website as soon as practical after the conclusion of the conference call.

About Nektar Therapeutics

Nektar Therapeutics is a research-based biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to discover and develop innovative medicines

to address the unmet medical needs of patients. Our R&D pipeline of new investigational medicines includes treatments for cancer,

auto-immune disease and chronic pain. We leverage Nektar's proprietary and proven chemistry platform in the discovery and design

of our new therapeutic candidates. Nektar is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional operations in Huntsville,

Alabama and Hyderabad, India. Further information about the company and its drug development programs and capabilities may be found

online at http://www.nektar.com.

MOVANTIK is a trademark and MOVENTIG is a registered

trademark of the AstraZeneca group of companies.

ADYNOVATE is a registered trademark of Baxalta Incorporated, a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Shire plc.

ONZEALD is a trademark of Nektar Therapeutics.

Opdivo is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements which can be identified by words such as: "anticipate," "intend,"

"plan," "expect," "believe," "should," "may," "will" and similar references

to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding the timing of the

availability of Phase 3 data for our NKTR-181 efficacy study and for our partnered programs with Bayer, the timing of the European

CHMP decision for conditional approval of ONZEALD, the timing of the availability of data for the dose-escalation study for NKTR-214

in combination with Opdivo, the future clinical development plans for our products (including NKTR-358 and NKTR-262), the

timing of availability of future clinical results, the timing of planned regulatory filings, the potential of NKTR-214 in combination

with other immunotherapy agents including Bristol-Myers Squibb's Opdivo (nivolumab), the timing of the completion of the NKTR-181

HAL study, and the potential of our technology and drug candidates in our research and development pipeline. Forward-looking

statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs,

expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, anticipated events and trends,

the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent

uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our

actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on

any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those

indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others: (i) clinical study outcomes, including the Phase 3 clinical

study outcome of NKTR-181, remain very unpredictable and it is possible that a clinical study could fail due to efficacy, safety

or other important clinical findings; (ii) the CHMP and FDA have substantial discretion as to whether to grant marketing approval

for pharmaceutical products (including ONZEALD and those of our partners) and the decisions from these regulatory authorities are

difficult to predict and these decisions have significant financial consequences; (iii) NKTR-214 is in early-stage clinical development

and there are substantial risks that can unexpectedly occur for numerous reasons including negative safety and efficacy findings

in the ongoing Phase 1 clinical study notwithstanding positive findings in preclinical studies; (iv) our drug candidates and those

of our collaboration partners are in various stages of clinical development and the risk of failure is high and can unexpectedly

occur at any stage prior to regulatory approval for numerous reasons including negative safety and efficacy findings even after

positive findings in previous preclinical and clinical studies; (v) the timing of the commencement or end of clinical trials and

the availability of clinical data may be delayed or unsuccessful due to regulatory delays, slower than anticipated patient enrollment,

manufacturing challenges, changing standards of care, evolving regulatory requirements, clinical trial design, clinical outcomes,

competitive factors, or delay or failure in ultimately obtaining regulatory approval in one or more important markets; (vi) scientific

discovery of new medical breakthroughs is an inherently uncertain process and the future success of applying our technology platform

to potential new drug candidates (such as NKTR-181, NKTR-214 and NKTR-358) is therefore highly uncertain and unpredictable

and one or more research and development programs could fail; (vii) patents may not issue from our patent applications for our

drug candidates including NKTR-181 and NKTR-214, patents that have issued may not be enforceable, or additional intellectual property

licenses from third parties may be required; and (viii) certain other important risks and uncertainties set forth in our Annual

Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March

1, 2017. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us