Strong Ph IIa data on Nektar's inhaled amikacin

USA-based Nektar Therapeutics reported strong data from a Phase IIa trial evaluating the use of NKTR-061 (inhaled amikacin) to treat mechanically-ventilated patients with hospital-acquired gram-negative pneumonia, at the annual American Thoracic Society International conference, held in San Francisco, California.

"The data in this study are very encouraging because they indicate that the adjunctive use of aerosol antibiotics with systemic therapy might be an effective new approach for treating patients infected by hospital-acquired, gram negative pneumonia, many of whom were infected by resistant gram negative pathogens," said Michael Niederman, chairman of the department of medicine at the Winthrop-University Hospital in Minneola, New York, and lead study investigator.

NKTR-061 is currently being tested to further evaluate the safety, tolerability and deep lung concentrations of amikacin formulated for inhalation for the adjunctive treatment of gram-negative pneumonia in ventilated patients diagnosed with hospital or ventilator associated pneumonia. This new inhaled antibiotic product candidate is the first of a series being developed by Nektar that leverage its proprietary micropump technology to rapidly deliver aerosolized antibiotics to the deep lungs, both within and outside of a ventilator system.