WSW, NY, February 18th, 2026, FinanceWire
Palatin Technologies (NYSE: PTN) today reported its Q4 2025 financial results and confirmed that its MC4R-based obesity programs remain on schedule to enter clinical development this year, while revealing that highlighting that its planned trials will now target both hypothalamic obesity and Prader-Willi syndrome – expanding the company’s addressable rare disease population.
The update, delivered alongside fiscal second quarter results, signals continued execution on the strategy Palatin outlined in recent months: building a focused obesity pipeline around rare, neurologically-driven disorders where no pharmacologic therapies are approved for hypothalamic obesity, and where Prader-Willi syndrome has only a single approved therapy that remains limited by tolerability and persistence of use, and where GLP-1 therapies offer little benefit.
What Palatin Is Building
For those unfamiliar with the story, Palatin is a clinical-stage biotech developing drugs that activate the melanocortin-4 receptor (MC4R) – a pathway that regulates appetite and energy balance in the brain. When this pathway is damaged or dysfunctional, patients experience severe, uncontrollable hunger that conventional obesity treatments can’t address.
Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RYTM) proved that MC4R-targeted drugs can produce meaningful weight loss in these patients, building a successful commercial franchise in rare genetic obesity disorders. But tolerability issues – particularly nausea and skin hyperpigmentation from off-target receptor activity – may limit broader adoption.
Palatin has decades of melanocortin experience positioning it to potentially create better-tolerated MC4R drugs. The company has two candidates advancing toward IND filings: PL7737, an oral small molecule (IND expected H1 2026), and a long-acting weekly injectable peptide (IND expected H2 2026).
Prader-Willi Enters the Picture
The notable update from today’s release is the explicit inclusion of Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS) as a target indication alongside hypothalamic obesity.
Both conditions involve hypothalamic dysfunction that leads to severe hyperphagia and hard-to-manage obesity. But it’s a meaningful expansion:
Hypothalamic obesity is typically acquired, most often after surgery or radiation for brain tumors like craniopharyngioma. Prader-Willi syndrome, by contrast, is a rare genetic disorder present from birth, characterized by insatiable hunger, developmental delays, and metabolic dysfunction.
Both patient populations are well-defined, managed by specialists, and currently only PWS has an approved drug targeting the underlying hyperphagia, but with a high 15-20% patient discontinuation rate. By pursuing both, Palatin broadens its clinical and commercial opportunity within the MC4R space while staying focused on rare, high-unmet-need indications.
CEO Carl Spana framed the focus around “neuroendocrine disorders” in today’s statement – a term that encompasses both conditions and signals where Palatin sees its differentiation.
Streamlining to Fund the Core Programs
Palatin also continues to clear the decks around its obesity-focused strategy.
In January 2026, the company sublicensed PL9643 – an MC1R agonist that had reached Phase 3 for dry eye disease – to Altanispac Labs. The deal brought $3.8 million in upfront consideration (structured as debt cancellation) and preserves Palatin’s participation in future milestones and royalties.
The move follows the pattern of a company sharpening its focus: monetize non-core assets, retain upside, direct resources toward the lead programs.
Meanwhile, Palatin’s Boehringer Ingelheim collaboration on melanocortin-based retinal therapies continues to generate non-dilutive capital. That partnership delivered €2.0 million upfront and a €5.5 million milestone in 2025, with up to €260 million in potential downstream payments.
Combined with the $18.2 million public offering that closed in November 2025, Palatin now reports a cash runway extending beyond March 2027 – enough to fund both MC4R programs into and through initial clinical readouts.
The Year Ahead
Palatin enters 2026 with two IND-enabling programs on track, an expanded target population, partnerships generating near-term cash, and a balance sheet that supports execution through first clinical data.
The MC4R mechanism and its commercial potential has already been validated commercially by Rhythm Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: RYTM) which currently holds a $6.8 billion market cap. Palatin’s bet is that its melanocortin expertise – the company was the first to bring a melanocortin-based drug to FDA approval – positions it to deliver the next-generation tolerability profile the field requires.
For a company trading at a fraction of comparable rare-disease obesity players, with differentiated candidates approaching the clinic, validated partnerships providing non-dilutive funding, and clear catalysts in the first and second half of 2026, Palatin offers an asymmetric setup heading into a year that should begin to answer whether its drug design strategy translates to humans.
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Recent News Highlights from Palatin:
Palatin Reports Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update
Palatin Reports First Quarter Fiscal Year 2026 Financial Results and Provides Corporate Update
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