 Nektar Therapeutics NASDAQ: NKTR announces a financing and co-development collaboration with privately-held SFJ Pharmaceuticals to develop Bempegaldesleukin BEMPEG CD122-preferential IL-2pathway agonist. The collaboration between SFJ and Nektar will support a new Phase 23 registrational study of BEMPEG plus Merck Co Incs NYSE: MRK Keytruda pembrolizumab in patients with head and neck cancer whose tumors express PD-L1. 