Nektar drug rezpeg helps promote hair growth in alopecia study

Adam Feuerstein is a senior writer and biotech columnist, reporting on the crossroads of drug development, business, Wall Street, and biotechnology. He is also a co-host of the weekly biotech podcast The Readout Loud and author of the newsletter Adam’s Biotech Scorecard. You can reach Adam on Signal at stataf.54.

Nektar Therapeutics said Monday that extended treatment with its experimental drug, called rezpeg, promoted greater hair growth in people with severe alopecia areata, an autoimmune condition that attacks hair follicles. 

After one year, 27% of participants treated with either a low or high dose of rezpeg achieved a clinically meaningful hair-growth outcome, Nektar said. The response, formally known as SALT Score 20, is defined as 80% or more of the scalp covered by hair.

The rezpeg results are equal or better to those from a low dose of Olumiant, a daily pill made by Eli Lilly that is currently approved for severe alopecia areata, albeit with physician use constrained by safety concerns. The two drugs have not been tested head to head. 

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