Cytokinetics, Inc. reported results from the 41-patient Phase II REDWOOD-HCM clinical trial on 19 July that appear to show better efficacy and improved safety with the cardiac myosin inhibitor CK-274 in the treatment of obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM) relative to mavacamten, a similar drug now owned by Bristol Myers Squibb Company that is under US Food and Drug Administration review with an approval decision expected in January.
The placebo-controlled REDWOOD-HCM trial was conducted to assess safety and efficacy in oHCM patients and to identify a range of doses that Cytokinetics will take into a Phase III clinical trial, which the company now expects to begin by the end of 2021. BMS likely will maintain a significant first-to-market advantage with mavacamten, the first-in-class myosin inhibitor the big pharma acquired in its $13.1bn acquisition of MyoKardia, Inc., but analysts said in same-day notes that they see CK-274 as a superior drug