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“Nektar”, the San Carlos drug developer, “is exceptionally well-positioned as we enter 2009,” said the company’s chief executive, Howard Robin, in an earnings release Tuesday.

Also well positioned is Robin himself, who the day before was given Read the rest of this entry »

Little more than a month after signing off on his first quarterly earnings filing for Nektar
Therapeutics, the San Carlos company he joined as chief financial officer in August, Tim
Harkness is gone.

If you hadn’t read to the bottom of the press release the company put out Tuesday announcing the promotion of John Nicholson, Nektar’s former vice president in charge of corporate development and business operations, to the post of chief financial officer you might have missed this line: “The previous Nektar CFO, Tim Harkness, is no longer with the company.” Nektar’s chief executive, Howard Robin, did add, “We thank Tim for his service to the company.”

Here’s what Robin had to say when Harkness, formerly with Molecular Devices, was hired in August. “With his strong understanding of healthcare and finance, Tim is a critical addition to the leadership team at Nektar.”

If Harkness was terminated by the company without cause or if he quite “”for good reason” he , would get “at a minimum” a cash severance payment equal to his
total annual cash compensation target including base salary and his bonus target, which could have totaled more than $1 million, according to his offer.

As of the time of this posting the company had yet to file any news or details about his departure.

Founded in 1990, Nektar is currently in trials with a drug to treat pneumonia that is
contracted in a hospital. It lost $19 million in its most recent quarter ending in September on $56.3 million in revenue, according to the only Nektar 10-Q Harkness ever prepared.  In its time on Earth, Nektar has accumulated $1.13 billion in losses.

Nektar’s board approved a plan in May to reduce its workforce by 25 percent, or 180 employees. at an estimated cost of $8.4 million.

Nektar shares took a dive in October after drug giant Pfizer said it would stop selling Exubera, the groundbreaking inhaled insulin treatment developed by Nektar, because of lackluster sales, and take a $2.8 billion write-off in Exubera-related costs.

By Silicon Valley standards, Tim Harkness, the new chief financial officer at Nektar Therapeutics is getting a frugal pay package. Which is probably a good thing since the San Carlos pharmaceutical company said in May it was undertaking a big reorganization and cutting costs as it tried to save $27 million this year.

A big signing bonus might not sit well with the rank and file.

But weep not, for Harkness, 41, will still get a $440,000 annual salary. He is eligible for a performance bonus that could reach as high as $660,000. He gets 200,000 stock options that vest over four years. And he gets 10,000 restricted stock units.

Founded in 1990, Nektar is currently in trials with a drug to treat pneumonia that is contracted in a hospital. It lost $27 million in its most recent quarter ending in June on $65 million in revenue. And its stock has fallen by about half over the past year.