Cytokinetics Seeks ALS Success By Focusing On Lung Function

Backed both with funding from ALS Association's Ice Bucket Challenge proceeds and from an expanding partnership with Astellas Pharma Inc., Cytokinetics Inc. thinks it may succeed where others have failed in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, with a drug that has demonstrated ability to slow the decline of lung function, the primary cause of death in most ALS patients.

The South San Francisco, Calif.-based firm announced that its Phase III VITALITY-ALS trial had completed global enrollment of about 700 patients Aug. 17, putting tirasemtiv, a novel skeletal muscle activator, on track to report potential registrational data in the second half of 2017. Cytokinetics pivoted sharply after a Phase II failure with the drug in 2014 on the ALS Functional Rating Scale (ALS-FRS), a broader endpoint