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Biotechnology firm Cytokinetics’ shares are up by 31% in premarket trading after the firm released data for its aficamten medication at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Madrid, Spain. The echocardiogram test results of the medicine demonstrated superior results over the current standard of care medicine metoprolol, said the firm’s head of research, and investors appear to be agreeing with the results as the stock is among the top performers in premarket trading today.
Cytokinetics Shares Rise After Aficamten Data Outperforms Current Medicines In MAPLE-HCM Trial
Cytokinetics’ aficamten medicine is currently undergoing phase three MAPLE-HCM trials, which are evaluating the drug’s suitability for patients with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The MAPLE-HCM trial specifically investigates the impact of thicker heart walls on the exercise capacity of patients with the disease and tests whether aficamten is a better drug than the standard of care, metoprolol.
The main endpoint of the trial is to determine whether trial participants have improved their oxygen uptake compared to the standard of care, and Cyokinetics’ vice president of R&D, Fady Malik, outlined that the latest results “elaborate on the superiority of aficamten compared to the current standard-of-care metoprolol as was previously reported in the primary efficacy analyses.”
His firm’s research, published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology (JACC) shows that aficamten reduced the blood outflow pressure in the heart’s left ventricle and reduced the left atrial volume for an overall improvement in cardiovascular health outcomes.
During its latest fiscal quarter ending in June, Cytokinetics earned roughly $67,000 in revenue and posted a net loss of $134,370. aficamten is the firm’s leading drug and its earliest shot at generating revenue through commercial sales.
In its SEC filing, Cytokinetics shared that the “earliest we might reasonably expect to commence commercial sales and record revenues is following the PDUFA target action date of December 26, 2025, for the NDA for aficamten in oHCM.”
The firm also warned that, as it had “incurred an accumulated deficit of approximately $3.0 billion since inception and there can be no assurance that we will attain profitability.” This deficit in question is a stockholders’ deficit, which means that the firm has more liabilities than assets, which indicates that Cytokinetics might find it difficult to reinvest in growth in the future or increase its shareholder equity. Such deficits are rare and are found typically in high risk companies.
