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Science Independently confirmed2 publishers 2 min read Published

Jury awards Nektar less than a tenth of the $1 billion it sought from Lilly

Jurors found Eli Lilly broke good faith in ending its rezpeg deal with Nektar Therapeutics and awarded Nektar $90 million plus interest. Nektar's shares still fell about 4% on Friday as investors set the award against a far larger ask.

The Scientist · Science desk

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Illustration accompanying Jury awards Nektar less than a tenth of the $1 billion it sought from Lilly
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What happened

  • The three-year-old dispute concerned Lilly's termination of an up-to-$400 million agreement to co-develop rezpeg, initially for autoimmune and chronic inflammatory conditions.
  • Pre-market buying lifted Nektar about 4.9% early Friday before the stock slid from a $60 open to $57.22 by 9:48 a.m.
  • A Lilly spokesperson had not responded to GEN's request for comment on the verdict by the publication's deadline.

Why it matters

  • Who has to decide decision Canaccord will add the sum to its Nektar model only when and if it is paid, so for now the verdict leaves that valuation where it was.
  • What it limits constraint If Lilly appeals, Nash says payment could be months or years away, and until then the award cannot be counted as cash Nektar has in hand.
  • What it sets up precedent The case shows a licensor can win on an implied good-faith theory after a partner ends a deal, but one verdict still open to appeal is a thin basis for pricing other pharma exits.

Measured against Nektar's own ask, the award is 9% [21]. Measured against the collaboration's headline value it is 22.5% [22], and the $1 billion Nektar sought was 2.5 times that headline [23]. The deal was worth "up to" $400 million. That is a ceiling on payments, so neither ratio is a valuation of rezpeg [8]. The sources do not say how Nektar built its damages figure or how the jury reached $90 million.

Canaccord Genuity analyst Edward Nash worked out the per-share value. Nash said a $90 million judgment represents $2.64 in cash per share and would imply a 4.4% move upward in the stock from Thursday's closing price of $59.38 [9]. That puts the implied price near $62.02 [24]. The stock closed Friday at $57.06 [4]. With 34.14 million shares outstanding [6], the close-to-close drop took about $79 million off Nektar's market value, a little less than the award itself [20].

One day's price change cannot isolate the effect of one verdict, because it includes whatever else traders weighed that Friday. GEN puts the drop down to the size of the ask, writing that the win "was ultimately viewed as anything but by investors, since Nektar had sought a verdict of $1 billion" [7]. Nash pointed to the balance sheet instead. "Importantly, the company also did not require any monies from the case in order to continue developing their pipeline assets," he said [12].

The drug data have moved the stock much further than the verdict did [19][4]. Rezpeg is designed to target the CD25 sub-receptor of the interleukin-2 receptor complex and expand regulatory T cells. Nektar reasons that activating those cells could restore their balance with effector T cells in autoimmune disease [17]. The Lancet published results in August from the 16-week induction period of the 52-week REZOLVE-AD trial in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. At the top dose given every two weeks, mean EASI scores fell 61% from baseline, against 31% on placebo [18]. The shares nearly doubled in February, after Nektar reported data from the trial's 36-week blinded maintenance period [19].

The legal finding rests on a term implied through the license agreement: the covenant of good faith and fair dealing [1]. Nektar said it was "pleased with the jury's verdict" [10]. The court has yet to set interest [1]. GEN reports that the verdict still faces post-trial proceedings and an appeals process it describes as all but expected [16].

What to watch

  • The court's interest ruling and post-trial motions, since together they set what Lilly owes if the verdict stands.
  • Whether Lilly appeals, and whether its grounds attack the good-faith finding itself or only the $90 million in damages.

Clarity's read

What the record supports and how the coverage leans. The claims behind it follow.

Reality

Evidence62
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Hype gap0
Incentives50
Confidence64
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  1. [1]

    A jury in the Northern District of California awarded Nektar $90 million, plus additional interest to be determined by the court, after agreeing that Lilly breached a covenant of good faith and fair dealing implied through the companies' agreement to co-develop rezpeg.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  2. [2]

    Nektar had sought a verdict of $1 billion against Lilly.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  3. [3]

    A jury found Eli Lilly breached a contract with Nektar Therapeutics to co-develop rezpeg in good faith and awarded Nektar $90 million in damages plus interest, far less than the company was seeking.

    Reported Supported Source: STATView cited source
  4. [4]

    Nektar shares finished Friday down 4%, from $59.38 to $57.06.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  5. [5]

    Pre-market buying sent Nektar shares up about 4.92% early Friday, per Canaccord Genuity's Edward Nash; after the open, shares slipped 4.6% from an opening price of $60 to $57.22 at 9:48 a.m.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  6. [6]

    Nektar had 34.14 million shares outstanding as of Friday morning.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  7. [7]

    The legal victory "was ultimately viewed as anything but by investors, since Nektar had sought a verdict of $1 billion"

    Reported Supported Source: GENView cited source
  8. [8]

    The three-year-old dispute concerned Lilly's termination of an up-to-$400 million collaboration agreement to co-develop rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), initially for autoimmune and other chronic inflammatory conditions.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  9. [9]

    "A judgment of $90M represents $2.64 in cash per share and would imply a 4.4% move upward in the stock compared to [Thursday]'s closing price of $59.38,"

    Reported Supported Source: Edward Nash, managing director and senior biotechnology analyst, Canaccord GenuityView cited source
  10. [10]

    "We are pleased with the jury's verdict in Nektar's favor finding that Lilly breached the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in the license agreement,"

    Reported Supported Source: Nektar statement to GEN and other outletsView cited source
  11. [11]

    At GEN's deadline, a Lilly spokesperson had not responded to a query seeking comment on the verdict.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  12. [12]

    "Importantly, the company also did not require any monies from the case in order to continue developing their pipeline assets,"

    Reported Supported Source: Edward Nash, Canaccord GenuityView cited source
  13. [13]

    "Therefore, any sum awarded in the case represents a non-dilutive capital addition to the balance sheet which we have not been factoring into our valuation."

    Reported Supported Source: Edward Nash, Canaccord GenuityView cited source
  14. [14]

    "If Lilly appeals the verdict, it could be months or years before Nektar would receive any payment."

    Reported Supported Source: Edward Nash, Canaccord GenuityView cited source
  15. [15]

    "We will move to include the sum in our model when and if it is paid."

    Reported Supported Source: Edward Nash, Canaccord GenuityView cited source
  16. [16]

    The jury's verdict is still subject to post-trial proceedings and an all-but-expected appeals process.

    Reported Supported Source: GENView cited source
  17. [17]

    Rezpeg is a first-in-class therapeutic designed to target the CD25 sub-receptor in the interleukin-2 receptor complex to stimulate regulatory T cells; Nektar reasons this could restore balance between Tregs and effector T cells in autoimmune and inflammatory conditions.

    Reported Supported Source: NektarView cited source
  18. [18]

    In August, The Lancet published 16-week induction data from the 52-week REZOLVE-AD trial in moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: mean percent reduction in EASI from baseline was 61% at 24 ug/kg every two weeks, 58% at 18 ug/kg every two weeks and 53% at 24 ug/kg every four weeks, vs. 31% for placebo.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  19. [19]

    Nektar shares nearly doubled in February after it announced positive data from the 36-week blinded maintenance period of REZOLVE-AD.

    Reported SupportedView cited source
  20. [20]

    The close-to-close fall from $59.38 to $57.06 on 34.14 million shares reduced Nektar's market value by about $79 million.

    Derived Supported
  21. [21]

    The $90 million award is 9% of the $1 billion Nektar sought.

    Derived Supported
  22. [22]

    The $90 million award is 22.5% of the up-to-$400 million headline value of the rezpeg agreement.

    Derived Supported
  23. [23]

    Nektar's $1 billion ask was 2.5 times the up-to-$400 million headline value of the agreement.

    Derived Supported
  24. [24]

    Nash's per-share figure implies a price of about $62.02, against the $59.38 Thursday close.

    Derived Supported

Sources

2 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.

  1. genengnews.com

    1 article · September 27, 2026

    StockWatch: Nektar Shares Flat as $90M Jury Verdict Less than Sought in Lilly Suit
  2. statnews.com

    1 article · September 25, 2026

    STAT+: Lilly wins approval for once-weekly insulin shot

Topics and entities

Topics

  • Autoimmune therapeutics
  • Pharmaceutical litigation

Entities

  • Eli Lilly
  • Rezpegaldesleukin
  • Nektar Therapeutics