# RTW Bio NAV rises 7.0% in April as biotech IPO and M&A activity accelerates - Link: https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/rtw-bio-nav-rises-7-0-in-april-as-biotech-ipo-and-ma-activity-accelerates/4121251522 - Published: 2026-05-14T08:00:26+01:00 - Author: Amilia Stone **RTW Biotech Opportunities Ltd** (LON:RTW) has announced that its monthly factsheet and commentary as at 30 April 2026 is now available. The Company’s unaudited net asset value attributable to its ordinary shares as at 30 April 2026 was US$2.59 per share, an increase of +7.0% from the previous month vs +0.4% for the Nasdaq Biotech Index and +3.7% for the Russell 2000 Biotech Index. The Company has delivered +14.5% annualised NAV per ordinary share performance since launch in October 2019. **Top 10 Positions** | **Holding** | **Public / Private** | **% NAV** | | Kailera | Public “KLRA” | 7.5% | | CG Oncology | Public “CGON” | 6.1% | | Corxel | Private | 5.5% | | argenx | Public “ARGX” | 5.2% | | Stoke | Public “STOK” | 5.1% | | UroGen | Public “URGN” | 4.9% | | PTC | Public “PTCT” | 4.5% | | Oruka | Public “ORKA” | 4.5% | | Celcuity | Public “CELC” | 4.3% | | Tango | Public “TNGX” | 3.3% | **Top YTD Contributors and Detractors** | **Holding** | **% NAV** | **Contribution** | | Kailera | 7.5% | +4.8% | | Spyre | 3.3% | +2.1% | | Oruka | 4.5% | +1.8% | | PTC | 4.5% | (1.8%) | | Erasca | 2.5% | (1.1%) | | Insmed | 2.3% | (0.9%) | Note: % NAV as at period end reflects gross economic exposure as a percentage of NAV. **COMPANY UPDATE** RTW Bio continued to make market purchases of its Ordinary Shares under the authority granted by shareholders at its Annual General Meeting in June 2025. RTW Bio has repurchased 9.5 million shares (equivalent to $15.3 million), over the twelve months to 30 April 2026. The discount to NAV at which RTW Bio’s Ordinary Shares trade has closed from 32.5% to 17.0% over the same period.  **SECTOR UPDATE** Capital markets and M&A activity accelerated sharply in the year to end-April, even as sector outflows reached c. $2 billion 2026 YTD. Follow-on issuance totalled $ 17 billion across 92 deals, versus $5 billion across 35 deals in the same period last year. IPO volumes tripled, with 10 offerings raising $3.3 billion compared to five raising $1 billion through the same point in 2025. Q1 M&A totalled $40 billion across 11 transactions, up from $26 billion across 12 deals in Q1 2025, reflecting both higher deal values and continued strategic appetite from large-cap pharma. Notably, Metis Techbio, a Chinese AI-driven drug discovery company, completed the most covered Hong Kong IPO of the year.  Earnings season was broadly positive, with the strongest results coming from commercial- stage companies with momentum behind their launches, including several in RTW Bio’s portfolio. A recurring theme on pharma earnings calls was AI’s role in compressing development timelines, with management teams pointing to preclinical cycles running 50% faster and overall development timelines potentially 30% shorter within one to two years.  Reports emerging after the end of April suggest FDA Commissioner Marty Makary’s tenure may be drawing to a close. Having arrived with a pro-innovation agenda that was broadly welcomed by the sector, his time at the agency has been marked by a widening gap between ambition and execution. The sector’s focus remains firmly on ensuring the administration’s stated commitment to regulatory flexibility and pro- innovation policy translates into practice.  ASCO takes place in Chicago this May, bringing together more late-stage oncology data from biotech companies than any recent edition. Much of this reflects a structural shift in where innovation is happening. The Inflation Reduction Act’s differential pricing timelines for small molecules versus biologics redirected capital toward ADCs, bispecifics, cell therapies and other advanced modalities, many of which were funded pre-2022 and are now reaching pivotal readouts simultaneously. The result is an unusually rich pipeline across historically difficult indications, including pancreatic cancer, second-line breast cancer and bladder cancer, where even modest efficacy gains can be practice-changing. Oncology is RTW Bio’s largest exposure to a single therapeutic area. You can read more about RTW’s views on this year’s conference – “[Why This Moment in Oncology Matters](https://www.rtwfunds.com/thought-leadership/asco-intelligence-1-asco-2026-why-this-moment-in-oncology-matters/)”– on RTW’s “[Thought Leadership](https://www.rtwfunds.com/thought-leadership/)” page. **PORTFOLIO UPDATE – APRIL** On 14 April, public biotech Galera Therapeutics announced a reverse merger with private portfolio company Obsidian Therapeutics, alongside a $350 million private placement in which RTW Bio also participated. The deal is expected to close in Q3 2026, with the combined company trading on Nasdaq under the ticker “OBX”. As at  30 April 2026, Obsidian represented 0.2% of RTW Bio’s NAV.  Kailera Therapeutics, RTW Bio’s second largest private holding, went public on Nasdaq on 17 April 2026, raising $625 million (subsequently upsized to $719 million) in the largest biotech IPO on record. Kailera’s shares closed up 62.5% on debut, a 139% step-up from RTW Bio’s 31 March carrying value and 143% from cost. As at 30 April 2026, Kailera represented 7.5% of RTW Bio’s NAV.   [rtw-biotech-opportunities-april-2026-factsheet-plus-monthly-update](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/rtw-biotech-opportunities-april-2026-factsheet-plus-monthly-update.pdf) [Download](https://www.directorstalkinterviews.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/rtw-biotech-opportunities-april-2026-factsheet-plus-monthly-update.pdf) Share on: