Ownership Submission
FORM 4
Check this box if no longer subject to Section 16. Form 4 or Form 5 obligations may continue. See Instruction 1(b).
UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP OF SECURITIES

Filed pursuant to Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Section 17(a) of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 or Section 30(h) of the Investment Company Act of 1940
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(Print or Type Responses)
1. Name and Address of Reporting Person *
Doberstein Stephen K
   2. Issuer Name and Ticker or Trading Symbol
NEKTAR THERAPEUTICS [NKTR] 		5. Relationship of Reporting Person(s) to Issuer
(Check all applicable)
_____ Director _____ 10% Owner
__X__ Officer (give title below) _____ Other (specify below)
SVP & Chief Scientific Officer
(Last)
(First)
(Middle)
C/O NEKTAR THERAPEUTICS, 455 MISSION BAY BOULEVARD SOUTH		 3. Date of Earliest Transaction (Month/Day/Year)
08/15/2018
(Street)

SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158		 4. If Amendment, Date Original Filed(Month/Day/Year)
 6. Individual or Joint/Group Filing(Check Applicable Line)
_X_ Form filed by One Reporting Person
___ Form filed by More than One Reporting Person
(City)
(State)
(Zip)
Table I - Non-Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
1.Title of Security
(Instr. 3)		 2. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 2A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 3. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)		 4. Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4 and 5)		 5. Amount of Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 3 and 4)		 6. Ownership Form: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)		 7. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V Amount (A) or (D) Price
Common Stock (1) 08/15/2018   A   26,000 A $ 0 89,959 D  
Common Stock 08/16/2018   D   6,701 (2) D $ 58.4 (3) 83,258 D  

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Table II - Derivative Securities Acquired, Disposed of, or Beneficially Owned
(e.g., puts, calls, warrants, options, convertible securities)
1. Title of Derivative Security
(Instr. 3)		 2. Conversion or Exercise Price of Derivative Security 3. Transaction Date (Month/Day/Year) 3A. Deemed Execution Date, if any (Month/Day/Year) 4. Transaction Code
(Instr. 8)		 5. Number of Derivative Securities Acquired (A) or Disposed of (D)
(Instr. 3, 4, and 5)		 6. Date Exercisable and Expiration Date
(Month/Day/Year)		 7. Title and Amount of Underlying Securities
(Instr. 3 and 4)		 8. Price of Derivative Security
(Instr. 5)		 9. Number of Derivative Securities Beneficially Owned Following Reported Transaction(s)
(Instr. 4)		 10. Ownership Form of Derivative Security: Direct (D) or Indirect (I)
(Instr. 4)		 11. Nature of Indirect Beneficial Ownership
(Instr. 4)
Code V (A) (D) Date Exercisable Expiration Date Title Amount or Number of Shares
Stock Option (4) $ 56.9 08/15/2018(5)   A   65,000     (6) 12/14/2025 Common Stock 65,000 $ 0 65,000 D  

Reporting Owners

Reporting Owner Name / Address Relationships
 Director  10% Owner  Officer  Other
Doberstein Stephen K
C/O NEKTAR THERAPEUTICS
455 MISSION BAY BOULEVARD SOUTH
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94158		       SVP & Chief Scientific Officer  

Signatures

 Mark A. Wilson, Attorney-in-Fact   08/16/2018
**Signature of Reporting Person Date

Explanation of Responses:

* If the form is filed by more than one reporting person, see Instruction 4(b)(v).
** Intentional misstatements or omissions of facts constitute Federal Criminal Violations. See 18 U.S.C. 1001 and 15 U.S.C. 78ff(a).
(1) Represents restricted stock units ("RSUs"), convertible on a one-for-one basis into shares of Common Stock of the Company. These RSUs, at the time of their grant on December 15, 2017, were subject to both performance-based and time-based vesting requirements. On August 15, 2018, the performance-based condition vesting was satisfied. The time-based vesting is on a quarterly pro-rata basis over a period of three (3) years from the date of grant.
(2) Represents the number of shares required to be sold by the reporting person to cover tax withholding obligations in connection with the vesting of the RSUs held by the reporting person. This sale is mandated by the Issuer's election under its equity incentive plans to require the satisfaction of tax withholding obligations to be funded by a "sell to cover" transaction and does not represent a discretionary trade by the reporting person.
(3) This transaction was executed in multiple trades at prices ranging from $56.37 to $59.72. The price reported above reflects the weighted average sale price. The reporting person hereby undertakes to provide full information regarding the number of shares and the prices at which the transactions were effected upon request to the SEC staff, the issuer, or a security holder of the issuer.
(4) These options, at the time of their grant were subject to both performance-based and time-based vesting requirements. On August 15, 2018, the performance-based condition vesting was satisfied. The time-based vesting is on a monthly pro-rata basis over a period of four years from the grant date (December 15, 2017).
(5) These stock options were granted on December 15, 2017 and the performance-based vesting requirement for these stock options was satisfied on August 15, 2018 upon the Compensation Committee's certification of the successful acceptance of the New Drug Application by the FDA for NKTR-181.
(6) This stock option vests on a monthly pro-rata basis over a period of four years from the grant date.

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