Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR), a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on development of novel immunology therapies, today announced new results from a blinded 16-week treatment extension period in its Phase 2b REZOLVE-AA study. The study is evaluating investigational rezpegaldesleukin, a first-in-class IL-2 pathway agonist and regulatory T-cell (Treg) biologic, in patients with severe-to-very-severe alopecia areata.

During the initial 36-week induction phase, patients were randomized (3:3:2) to receive one of two rezpegaldesleukin doses or placebo, administered as twice-monthly subcutaneous injections. Mean baseline Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) Scores for patients enrolled in the study were 78.5 in the rezpegaldesleukin treatment arms as compared to 76.6 in placebo. Median time from onset of disease was 6.9 years in the treatment arms and 6.1 years in placebo. Following completion of the induction phase, patients with a SALT Score greater than 20 at week 36 who also demonstrated hair growth were eligible to continue on rezpegaldesleukin at their induction dose level in a blinded 16-week exploratory treatment extension through week 52.