Nektar Therapeutics Holders Hit Board With Insider Trading Suit

Two Nektar Therapeutics shareholders sued its directors in Delaware Chancery Court, claiming they sold $171 million worth of company stock at prices inflated by their fraudulent scheme to hype the results of trials for its flagship drug, an experimental cancer immunotherapy.

Board members touted “rosy business prospects” by citing a “30-fold increase” in cancer-fighting immune cells based on “cherry-picked data” reflecting averages “skewed” by an “outlier,” then cashed in “at its artificially inflated price while the opportunity lasted,” the derivative lawsuit says.

They later promoted a drug development partnership with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., saying it would yield “more than 20" ...