Nektar: NKTR-0165 shows selective enhancement of treg cell function in study

Nektar Therapeutics announced the presentation of a poster highlighting new preclinical data on NKTR-0165 at the European Alliance of Associations for Rheumatology 2024 Congress. NKTR-0165 is a novel, first-in-class tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 agonist and bivalent antibody designed to selectively stimulate TNFR2 receptor activity, without modulation of the TNFR1 signaling. TNFR2 signaling has been shown to be an important gatekeeper of inflammation and its absence or deficit is associated with a broad range of autoimmune diseases. TNFR2 is highly expressed on Tregs, neuronal cells and endothelial cells and has been shown to potentiate the suppressive effects and overall functional properties of regulatory T cells. “The preclinical data presented at EULAR show that NKTR-0165 is a unique antibody that selectively binds to TNFR2 on Tregs to enhance its immunosuppressive activities, and could potentially become a first-in-class treatment for various autoimmune diseases, including ulcerative colitis and vitiligo,” said Jonathan Zalevsky, Ph.D., Senior Vice President and Chief Research & Development Officer at Nektar. “By selectively binding to TNFR2, NKTR-0165 upregulates expression of proteins that are critical to Treg proliferation and function. Animal models show that NKTR-0165 reduces inflammation through the selective enhancement of Treg cell function via TNFR2 agonism. These data demonstrate a unique and differentiated profile for this bivalent antibody in the field of TNFR2 agonists.” NKTR-0165 shows selective TNFR2 binding and receptor agonism in human Tregs, with minimal binding and signaling activity in other TNFR2-expressing immune cells in vitro and in vivo. NKTR-0165 agonistic activity enhances Treg lineage stabilization and upregulates expression of proteins involved in Treg proliferation and function. NKTR-0165 demonstrates therapeutic efficacy in a KLH-induced delayed type hypersensitivity model in human TNFR2 knock-in mice.