Boston, MA 04/30/2014 (wallstreetpr) – Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) shares fell by 60% from $12.95 to $5.17 on April 25 as the Company’s lead drugs candidate (tirasemtiv) failed to clear the Phase IIb study. The results need further review to understand the potential of the drugs against Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
Tirasemtiv
Tirasemtiv is a novel drug of intending to use for the treatment of ALS that are commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. The drug increases the muscles sensitivity to calcium that helps to reduce the time to muscle fatigue. Tirasemtiv got the orphan drug designation for its high effectiveness and also received fast track status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medical Agency.
Tirasemtiv is currently in Phase IIb trial and the study includes the testing against placebo in 711 ALS patients to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drug.
What else in Cytokinetics’ pipeline
Analysts are now shifting their focus from tirasemtiv to omecamtiv mecarbil. Omecamtiv mecarbil is another drug candidate of Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK), currently in Phase IIb stage of development for contraction of cardiac muscle used for the treatment of heart failure. The compound is under the evaluation of two route administration – oral and intravenous (IV). The drug maker is developing this compound in collaboration with Amgen.
Moving forward
Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) plans to reevaluate the results of the study to decide on tirasemtiv as there are few medications available to increase muscular strength in ALS patients. ALS is one progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects ~25,000 people in the U.S. and ~5,600 of new cases are under diagnosis per year. Death is usually happening in patients due to respiratory failure as a result of weak skeletal muscles.
As of now, generic riluzole is the only approved drug that helps to slow down the intensity of the disease, but, unable to cure the patients, resulting to high unmet needs for novel treatment that will address the issue and enhance the skeletal muscle for breathing.
