TO BUSINESS, HEALTH AND MEDICAL EDITORS:

                    Nektar Appoints Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D.,
                  to Serve on the Company's Board of Directors

          Huh To Step Down as COO and Head of PEGylation Business Unit

      SAN CARLOS, Calif., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nektar Therapeutics
(Nasdaq: NKTR) announced today that Hoyoung Huh, M.D., Ph.D, is newly appointed
to serve on the Board of Directors of the company. Dr. Huh will step down as
Nektar's Chief Operating Officer and Head of the PEGylation Business Unit,
having accepted a new leadership role as President and Chief Executive Officer
at BiPar Sciences, a private biopharmaceutical company.

      "Hoyoung will continue to play a strong leadership role at Nektar as a
member of our Board of Directors," said Howard W. Robin, President and CEO of
Nektar. "His contribution as a Board member will allow us to continue to benefit
from his deep knowledge of our organization, technology platforms and
development pipeline."

      "The decision to step down as a COO was a difficult one," said Dr. Huh.
"Nektar is positioned for great success in the future with its leading
PEGylation and Pulmonary technology platforms and a deep pipeline of innovative
and promising therapeutics in development. I am pleased to play an active role
in the transformation of Nektar into a drug development company."

      About Nektar
      Nektar Therapeutics is a biopharmaceutical company that develops and
enables differentiated therapeutics with its industry-leading PEGylation and
pulmonary drug development platforms. Nektar PEGylation and pulmonary
technology, expertise, manufacturing capabilities have enabled ten approved
products for partners, which include the world's leading pharmaceutical and
biotechnology companies. Nektar also develops its own products by applying its
PEGylation and pulmonary technology platforms to existing medicines with the
objective to enhance performance, such as improving efficacy, safety and
compliance.

      This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the
company's current views as to its board of directors and business prospects.
These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, including but
not limited to: (i) the company's proprietary product candidates and those of
certain of its partners are in the early phases of clinical development and the
risk of failure is high and can occur at any stage prior to regulatory approval,
(ii) the company's or its partner's ability to obtain regulatory approval for
product candidates, (iii) the success of the company's partners in sales and
marketing efforts to generate from approved products and future products (if
any), and (iv) the company's patent applications for its technology platforms
and proprietary or partner product candidates may not issue, patents that have
issued may not be enforceable, or intellectual property licenses from third
parties may be required in the future. Important risks and uncertainties are
detailed in the company's reports and other filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including its most recent Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and
Annual Report on Form 10-K. Actual results could differ materially from the
forward-looking statements contained in this press release. The company
undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a
result of new information, future events or otherwise.

      Contacts:

      Tim Warner (650) 283-4915 or twarner@nektar.com

      Stephan Herrera (415) 488-7699 or sherrera@nektar.com

      Jennifer Ruddock (650) 631-4954 or jruddock@nektar.com

SOURCE  Nektar Therapeutics