Nkarta Reports Initial Clinical Data For NKX019 Demonstrating Early Efficacy And Favorable Tolerability In Autoimmune Disease Trial

• In myositis, 5/6 (83%) patients treated at 4 billion cells per dose with at least three months of follow-up achieved moderate or major responses, as measured by the Total Improvement Score (TIS) in the Ntrust-2 study of NKX019, an investigational, allogeneic CAR NK cell therapy.
  
   
• In systemic sclerosis, 6/7 (86%) patients treated at 4 billion cells per dose with at least three months of follow-up achieved a revised Composite Response Index in Systemic Sclerosis (rCRISS)-25 response or greater, with 5/7 (71%) patients achieving an rCRISS-50 response or greater.
  
   
• Rapid and deep skin responses observed in systemic sclerosis at 4 billion cells per dose, including a median 15-point reduction in modified Rodnan skin score (mRSS) at Day 90, with 5/7 (71%) patients achieving a reduction of at least 50% from baseline.
  
   
• No immune effector cell-associated toxicities, including cytokine release syndrome (CRS), immune effector cell-associated neurotoxicity syndrome (ICANS) and immune effector cell-associated hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis-like syndrome (IEC-HS), or graft-versus-host disease (GvHD), and no treatment discontinuations due to adverse events, among 40 patients treated across five indications in the Ntrust program.
• Webcast scheduled for today, November 9, at 8 a.m. ET
   

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Nov. 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Nkarta (NASDAQ:NKTX), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing engineered natural killer (NK) cell therapies to treat autoimmune diseases, today announced positive initial clinical data from its Ntrust clinical trial program evaluating NKX019, its allogeneic, off-the-shelf CAR NK cell therapy candidate.

Initial clinical data from the Ntrust program are being presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) Convergence 2026 in Orlando in two oral presentations and one poster presentation, highlighting tolerability and early efficacy in Nkarta’s lead indications, myositis and systemic sclerosis. Additional translational data will be reviewed today in an investor webcast. All data are as of the September 18, 2026, ACR data cutoff.

Patients at the 4 billion-cell dose level received three doses of NKX019 on Days 0, 3 and 7 following lymphodepleting preconditioning, for a total of 12 billion cells. Efficacy was assessed using disease-specific clinical endpoints.

In myositis, the Total Improvement Score (TIS) combines muscle strength, patient and physician assessments and other disease measures. A TIS of 40 or higher represents a moderate response, reflecting broad improvement in the disease, and a TIS of 60 or higher represents a major response. In systemic sclerosis, the revised Composite Response Index in Systemic Sclerosis (rCRISS) measures skin, lung function, physical function and patient and clinician global assessments. An rCRISS-25 response represents at least 25% improvement across multiple domains of disease.