5 Nephrology Headlines You Missed in April 2026

April 2026 marked a pivotal month in nephrology, highlighted by major US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals and late-breaking clinical data that signal continued momentum in kidney disease therapeutics.

The Agency expanded treatment options across immune-mediated and rare kidney diseases, including a new subcutaneous formulation of anifrolumab (Saphnelo) for systemic lupus erythematosus and the landmark approval of sparsentan (Filspari) as the first indicated therapy for focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS).

Meanwhile, results from the phase 3 APPLAUSE-IgAN trial presented at the World Congress of Nephrology (WCN) 2026 demonstrated clinically meaningful slowing of kidney function decline with iptacopan (Fabhalta), reinforcing the growing role of targeted therapies in glomerular disease.

Alongside these advances, expert-driven discussions on APOL1-mediated kidney disease and emerging combination strategies, including atrasentan layered onto SGLT2 inhibition, underscored a field rapidly advancing toward precision medicine.

Catch up on 5 nephrology headlines you missed in April 2026, including WCN coverage, FDA updates, and trial data!

FDA News

Anifrolumab (Saphnelo) Wins FDA Approval for Subcutaneous Self-Administration in SLE

On April 27, 2026, the FDA approved anifrolumab for once-weekly subcutaneous self-administration for use in adult patients with moderate to severe systemic lupus erythematosus receiving standard therapy/

The approval was based on results from a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 TULIP-SC trial evaluating subcutaneous anifrolumab versus placebo in 367 adults aged 18 to 70 years. According to AstraZeneca, subcutaneous anifrolumab achieved a statistically significant and clinically meaningful reduction in disease activity compared with placebo on this endpoint.

FDA Approves Sparsentan for Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

On April 13, 2026, the FDA granted full approval to sparsenten to treat FSGS. This decision signaled a historic milestone for the rare kidney disease as the first approved therapeutic option for a historically off-label, supportive-care-dominated disease area.

Supported by data from 2 of the largest head-to-head interventional studies in adult and pediatric patients with FSGS, the phase 3 DUPLEX study and the phase 2 DUET study, sparsentan’s mechanism combines dual endothelin A and angiotensin II type 1 receptor blockade to address podocyte injury without immunosuppression.

Related: FSGS Drug Development No Longer a ‘Graveyard’: What Comes After Sparsentan’s Approval

Trial Data

APPLAUSE-IgAN: Iptacopan (Fabhalta) Exhibits 49.3% Slower eGFR Decline in IgAN Patients Than Placebo

Iptacopan demonstrated a 49.3% slower rate of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) decline compared to placebo. The final 2-year results from the phase 3 APPLAUSE-IgAN trial. were announced by Novartis and presented as late-breaking data at the 2026 WCN.

Additional findings included a 43% reduction in the likelihood of composite kidney failure events and 40.7% of iptacopan-treated patients achieving target proteinuria, compared with 23.7% in the placebo group.

Featured Content

APOL1-Mediated Kidney Disease: From Genetic Discovery to the Edge of Precision Medicine

For the third annual APOL1-mediated kidney disease day, HCPLive put together a feature including perspectives from 5 experts in the nephrology field. Topics included the problem of misdiagnosis, unpredictable progression, and uneven access to genetic insight, while considering the emergence of targeted therapies.

Kidney Compass: ASSIST Trial Shows Atrasentan Benefit on Top of SGLT2 Inhibitors

This month, HCPLive’s nephrology podcast Kidney Compass, hosted by Brendon Neuen, MBBS, PhD, and Shikha Wadhwani, MD, MS, discussed several concepts presented at WCN 2026, including the phase 2 ASSIST trial, which evaluated the efficacy and safety of atrasentan in combination with SGLT2 inhibitors.