STAT+: Cytokinetics heart drug aficamten succeeds in pivotal study

An experimental medicine from Cytokinetics significantly improved exercise capacity for patients with a rare, progressive heart disease, the company said Wednesday — a result that compared favorably with a competing treatment from Bristol Myers Squibb.

The study enrolled about 300 people with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, or HCM, a hereditary disorder that restricts blood flow. After 24 weeks of treatment, patients receiving Cytokinetics’ drug, called aficamten, saw significant improvements in their peak oxygen uptake from baseline, a sign of improved cardiac function that met the study’s primary goal. The trial also met all 10 of its secondary endpoints, Cytokinetics said.

The data, to be presented in full at a future medical meeting, are likely enough to win Food and Drug Administration approval for aficamten. But the future of Cytokinetics’ medicine will depend on whether the company can persuade physicians to prescribe it over the only approved HCM treatment, Bristol Myers’ Camzyos.

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