Cytokinetics has record gain as heart drug succeeds in trial

CYTOKINETICS said on Wednesday (Dec 27) that its experimental drug helped patients with a genetic heart ailment in a closely watched trial.

The drug improved exercise capacity and oxygen uptake in patients with the heart condition, compared with those getting a placebo, the San Francisco-based company reported. Months before the results were released, Cytokinetics had already attracted interest from at least one major drugmaker, Bloomberg reported in October. 

The shares rose as much as 83 per cent at the New York market open, the most intraday since they began trading in 2004. Cytokinetics had a market value of more than US$4.4 billion before the surge, and there has been a wave of acquisitions in the pharmaceutical industry in recent months.

Aficamten is a once-daily pill for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a genetic disease in which abnormally thick heart muscle interferes with pumping. As many as one in 500 people have it, though many go undiagnosed, according to the American Heart Association, and it is regarded as the most common cause of sudden cardiac death in young people and competitive athletes.    

Cytokinetics plans to submit the drug for clearance in the second half of 2024, chief executive officer Robert Blum said on a conference call. Peak sales could hit US$3 billion by 2035, analysts from Leerink Partners said in a note before the data was released. Full results from the study will be presented at an upcoming medical conference, Cytokinetics said.

If approved by US regulators, the drug would compete with Bristol Myers Squibb’s Camzyos, which was cleared last year as a treatment for obstructive HCM. In this form of the disease, the most common, abnormally thick muscle inhibits blood flow from the heart to the aorta.

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Bristol gained Camzyos with the 2020 purchase of MyoKardia. Washington Wizards guard Jared Butler, who was diagnosed with the condition in a routine screening before starting college basketball, has teamed up with Bristol to raise awareness.

Shares of Cytokinetics jumped last week after Dealreporter said the company was fielding takeover interest from Novartis and AstraZeneca. An acquisition would add to the spate of buying at drugmakers including Bristol, AbbVie and Astra. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P Biotech ETF, or XBI, has gained about 40 per cent since hitting a 2023 low on Oct 27.

The company’s late-stage trial enrolled patients with symptomatic HCM and looked at changes in exercise capacity, heart failure symptoms and overall functioning. The drug was added to standard therapy, Cytokinetics said. BLOOMBERG