Immunotherapy Stocks Plummet After Major Capital Increase, $180 Billion Market Value Vanishes in a Day

Nektar Therapeutics (NASDAQ: NKTR) closed the previous trading day at $86.75, down 5.38%. Volume was about 1.12 million shares, and its market capitalization shrank to roughly $2.57 billion (about KRW 3.6 trillion), erasing some $131 million (around KRW 180 billion) in a single session.

The company recently wrapped up a $373.8 million public offering—including full exercise of the underwriters’ option—to bolster its autoimmune and oncology pipeline, alongside 52-week extension study data for its severe alopecia candidate rezpegaldesleukin. However, back‐to‐back capital raises and a securities class‐action lawsuit related to its 2025 disclosures have unsettled investor sentiment. (biospace.com)

Headquartered in San Francisco, Nektar is a clinical‐stage biotech firm focusing its research, development and newly raised funds on an immunomodulatory pipeline that includes rezpegaldesleukin for severe alopecia, the autoimmune therapy NKTR-358, the cancer immunotherapy NKTR-255 and the TNFR2-targeting antibody candidate NKTR-0165. (nektar.com)