Nektar Announces Promotion of Jillian B. Thomsen to Senior Vice President & Chief Financial Officer

SAN FRANCISCO, July 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nektar Therapeutics (Nasdaq: NKTR) today announced the promotion of Jillian B. Thomsen to Senior Vice President (SVP) & Chief Financial Officer. Ms. Thomsen has served as SVP, Finance & Chief Accounting Officer of Nektar since 2008, and is a key member of our Executive Committee.  Gil Labrucherie, the company's current Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer, will be departing the company to pursue another opportunity at a private biotechnology company.

"Jill brings a deep understanding of financial strategy and operational excellence to her new role," said Howard Robin, President & CEO at Nektar Therapeutics. "She is a strategic leader that was instrumental in building the Nektar finance organization. In addition to oversight of finance, R&D outsourcing and procurement, Jill has been a vital member of our leadership team executing a wide range of capital market transactions, including debt and equity financings and royalty sales. I am pleased that she will be taking on this broader role for Nektar."

"Gil has been a highly valued member of our leadership team at Nektar for the past 17 years.  As a member of our Executive Committee, he was involved with many important key milestones, partnerships and financings and he will be very missed by all of us.  I would like to thank him for his contributions to Nektar and wish him the best in his next career step," continued Robin. 

In April 2008, Jillian B. Thomsen was appointed Chief Accounting Officer at Nektar and joined our Executive Committee. She has over 30 years of finance and accounting experience. In her current role, Ms. Thomsen oversees accounting, financial reporting, FP&A, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, treasury, tax, clinical outsourcing, and procurement functions at the company. From 2006 to 2008, she served as Vice President, Finance and Controller of Nektar. Prior to joining Nektar in 2006, Ms. Thomsen was Deputy Controller of Calpine Corporation from September 2002 to February 2006. Ms. Thomsen is a certified public accountant (inactive) and started her career serving twelve years, in Arthur Andersen LLP's audit and business advisory services practice. Ms. Thomsen holds a Master of Accountancy degree from the University of Denver and a B.A. in Business Economics from Colorado College.

Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of investigational medicines in oncology, immunology, and inflammatory diseases. Nektar is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with additional operations in Huntsville, Alabama and Hyderabad, India. Further information about the company and its drug development programs and capabilities may be found online at http://www.nektar.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which can be identified by words such as: "design," "potential," "intend," "advance," "expect," "aim," "plan," "prioritize," "will," "may," "future," "ensure," "believe" and similar references to future periods. Examples of forward-looking statements include, among others, statements we make regarding the therapeutic potential of, and future development plans for, NKTR-358, NKTR-255 and our other drug candidates in research programs, the timing of the initiation of clinical studies and the availability of clinical data for our drug candidates, our expectations (including our expected charges and cost savings) following our corporate restructuring, reorganization and workforce reduction, and our expected working capital our cash runway.  Forward-looking statements are neither historical facts nor assurances of future performance. Instead, they are based only on our current beliefs, expectations and assumptions regarding the future of our business, future plans and strategies, anticipated events and trends, the economy and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Our actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements. Therefore, you should not rely on any of these forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others: (i) our statements regarding the therapeutic potential of NKTR-358, NKTR-255 and our other drug candidates are subject to change as research and development continue to generate new safety and efficacy data; (ii) NKTR-358, NKTR-255 and our other drug candidates are investigational agents and continued research and development for these drug candidates is subject to substantial risks, including negative safety and efficacy findings in ongoing studies (notwithstanding positive findings in earlier preclinical and clinical studies); (iii) NKTR-358, NKTR-255 and our other drug candidates are in various stages of clinical development and the risk of failure is high and can unexpectedly occur at any stage prior to regulatory approval; (iv) the timing of the commencement or end of clinical trials and the availability of clinical data may be delayed or unsuccessful due to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, regulatory delays, slower than anticipated patient enrollment, manufacturing challenges, changing standards of care, evolving regulatory requirements, clinical trial design, clinical outcomes and competitive factors; (v) we may not achieve the expected costs savings we expect from the restructuring and reorganization; and (vi) patents may not issue from our patent applications for our drug candidates, patents that have issued may not be enforceable, or additional intellectual property licenses from third parties may be required; and (vii) certain other important risks and uncertainties set forth in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2022. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release is based only on information currently available to us and speaks only as of the date on which it is made. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, whether written or oral, that may be made from time to time, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Contact:

Vivian Wu
Nektar Therapeutics
628-895-0661

SOURCE Nektar Therapeutics