Another false dawn for Nkarta

Nkarta hoped to have drawn a line under earlier difficulties, but nine months later it’s had to make another strategic shift. NKX101, the group’s lead allogeneic Car-NK cell therapy, against NKG2D ligands, was scrapped yesterday after a dramatic fall-off in complete responses in AML. This throws into doubt Nkarta’s implementation of a new chemo conditioning regimen, which in mid-2023 was hailed as the saving grace for this project after an earlier disappointment. But the headline number – four AML patients with complete remissions out of six treated – has now melted away, with the latest update revealing just one additional response among a further 14 subjects, for a lacklustre 25% CR rate. The new lymphodepletion was only being used in AML, so the setback shouldn’t have a bearing on Nkarta’s new lead, the anti-CD19 Car-NK NKX019. That’s being studied in lymphoma, a tough space where allogeneic Car-T players are being squeezed by competitor developments, as well as in lupus, a space other cell therapy companies have recently piled into. Mizuho’s Salim Sayed wrote that NKX101’s discontinuation removed an overhang, and focused on upcoming NKX019 data, but investors will have to hope that this isn’t another Nkarta false dawn.

Upcoming Nkarta catalysts

Source: company information.

After this story was published Nkarta announced a $240m equity offering at $10 a share.