WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Nektar Therapeutics (NKTR) reported first quarter net income of $33.8 million or $0.25 per share, compared to a loss of $46.2 million or $0.37 per share, prior year.
Revenue increased to $108.8 million from $19.8 million last year. The company said the increase in revenue is due to the recognition of $90.0 million of the $100.0 million milestone payment from AstraZeneca following the first commercial sale of Movantik in the U.S.
Howard Robin, CEO of Nektar, said: 'The recent U.S. launch of Movantik by AstraZeneca is progressing well and this first-in-class medicine to treat OIC is now being made available in several European countries. With this and the anticipated approval of BAX 855 in Q4, we are beginning to see important new medicines emerging from our late-stage pipeline that should drive Nektar's near-term revenue. We have three additional partnered drug candidates in Phase 3 which are expected to have data readouts in 2016 and should continue to build our revenue base in the future.'
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