Nektar Therapeutics Inc. rolled out new, 52-week results in alopecia areata (AA) – patchy hair loss – from a blinded 16-week treatment extension in the phase IIb Rezolve-AA study. The effort is testing investigational rezpegaldesleukin (rezpeg), a first-in-class IL-2 pathway agonist and regulatory T-cell biologic, in patients with severe to very severe disease. Longer treatment with rezpeg turned up more efficacy as time went on, with the combined Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT) ≤20 rate reaching about 28% (24µg/kg) at week 52, “meeting our best-case scenario” of the 25-30% range, Oppenheimer analyst Jay Olson said in a report. Shares of San Francisco-based Nektar (NASDAQ:NKTR) jumped from the April 20 opening price of $84.86 to a high of $109, a rise of 24%, and were trading April 21 at about $100.

Tortugas launches with $106M for neurology, neuropsychiatric drugs

Tortugas Neuroscience disclosed that it raised $106 million between its seed and series A financing rounds. The company, which is led by former executives of Sage Therapeutics Inc., has a pipeline of four clinical-stage, small molecules thanks to deals with Eisai Co. Ltd. and Jiangsu Hansoh Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. Tortugas plans to use the funding to advance its pipeline, including completing phase II trials for its two lead candidates.

Xeltis secures CE mark for Axess, its hemodialysis conduit

Xeltis BV has secured CE mark approval for Axess, its restorative vascular access conduit for hemodialysis. The company also released data 12-month from its EU pivotal trial on the technology which showed strong durability outcomes, including 79% secondary patency and a very low patency‑related reintervention rate of 1.3 per patient year, as well as a substantial reduction in infection burden. With the CE mark in hand and backed by data, Xeltis believes that Axess could offer hemodialysis patients a more reliable, long-lasting access option that can improve their quality of life while reducing the burden of repeat procedures.

Fed Circuit hands headache patent win back to Teva

Ever since Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. sued Eli Lilly and Co. in 2018 claiming Lilly’s migraine drug, Emgality (galcanezumab), infringed its headache treatment patents, the two companies have been on a litigation rollercoaster. First a jury agreed with Teva. Then a U.S. district judge said the jury got it wrong and declared the patents were invalid because they didn’t satisfy written-description and enablement requirements. The latest twist is the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit reversing the judge and siding with the original jury verdict.

AACR: Early data position Junshi in next-gen immuno-oncology race

Shanghai Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd reported early clinical signals across its next-generation immuno-oncology pipeline, including response rates of up to 71% in metastatic colorectal cancer and 45.5% in hepatocellular carcinoma, at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) meeting in San Diego. Although the data are preliminary, they provide an early look at how the company is attempting to expand the reach of immunotherapy into tumors that have historically shown limited response. “At this year's AACR annual meeting, we reported not only two combination therapy datasets for our bispecific antibody, JS-207, but also first-in-human results for the bispecific ADC [antibody-drug conjugate] JS-212. Their results demonstrated highly encouraging clinical profiles,” said Junshi Biosciences CEO Jianjun Zou.

Biogen amasses full felzartamab rights with $850M TJ deal

Biogen Inc. has consolidated full global rights to felzartamab through an $850 million deal with TJ Biopharma Co. Ltd. April 20, closing the chapter on a complex 10-year license saga. Felzartamab is an anti-CD38 human monoclonal antibody originally developed by first-generation mAb pioneer Morphosys AG for cancer indications, including multiple myeloma, before expansion into immune-mediated diseases. “This deal is important to Biogen as it further expands the global opportunity for felzartamab, a potential pipeline-in-a-product with broad applicability across a range of immune-mediated conditions,” according to Fraser Hall, president of Biogen’s intercontinental region.

At AACR: Epigenetic fingerprints in metastases track tumor origin

When a tumor migrates and colonizes another tissue or organ, it can be identified as a metastasis, but its origin is not always clear. Now, a study based on machine learning has identified DNA-methylation patterns that reveal the type of tissue a cancer comes from when the primary tumor cannot be found. This technique could help guide more specific treatments for patients with cancers of unknown primary, who today often receive broad, nontargeted chemotherapy. The research, “A machine learning model that uses DNA methylation patterns may help identify the origin of cancers of unknown primary,” was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) conference, being held in San Diego April 17-22, 2026.

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