Nektar bags $70M milestone as AstraZeneca takes constipation drug to FDA

The FDA has accepted an NDA for Nektar Therapeutics' ($NKTR) naloxegol, triggering a $70 million milestone payment from partner AstraZeneca ($AZN). The drug, designed to treat painkiller-induced constipation in patients with chronic pain, works by blocking mu-opioid receptors, and Nektar licensed the therapy to AstraZeneca back in 2009. More