On January 7, 2022 Cytokinetics, Incorporated (Nasdaq: CYTK) and Royalty Pharma plc (Nasdaq: RPRX) reported that Cytokinetics has secured long-term capital from Royalty Pharma to support the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil and the further development of aficamten (Press release, Cytokinetics, JAN 7, 2022, View Source [SID1234598418]). In addition, Cytokinetics sold to Royalty Pharma royalties on future worldwide sales of aficamten .
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Omecamtiv mecarbil is an investigational, selective, small molecule cardiac myosin activator, that was granted Fast Track Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and was the subject of GALACTIC-HF, a positive Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction. Aficamten is an investigational selective, small molecule cardiac myosin inhibitor that is under investigation for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and was granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation by the U.S. FDA.
"These corporate development transactions continue our history of monetizing our leadership in muscle biology through creative deal making and provide further optionality, capital efficiencies and financial resources to expand our cardiovascular development and commercialization programs," said Robert I. Blum, Cytokinetics’ President and Chief Executive Officer. "We are pleased to enter into these additional transactions with Royalty Pharma, underscoring our shared commitment to build an industry leading cardiovascular franchise in cardiac myosin modulation."
"We are pleased to expand our partnership with Cytokinetics," said Pablo Legorreta, Royalty Pharma’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer. "Royalty Pharma is excited to support the company at this important stage of transformation towards a commercial organization with an exciting late stage pipeline addressing unmet medical needs in multiple cardiovascular diseases."
Royalty Pharma will provide Cytokinetics long-term capital of up to $300 million to support the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil and the further development of aficamten, and other general corporate purposes. The capital is available in five tranches, including an initial tranche of $50 million upon closing and four additional tranches in the aggregate amount of $250 million upon the occurrence of certain regulatory and clinical development milestones related to omecamtiv mecarbil and aficamten. Each tranche has an interest-free and payment-free period of six calendar quarters, followed by 34 calendar quarters of installment re-payments totaling 1.9 times the amount drawn.
In addition, Royalty Pharma has purchased from Cytokinetics a royalty on aficamten of 4.5% on sales up to $1 billion and 3.5% on sales above $1 billion, subject to certain potential step-downs, in exchange for payments of up to $150 million, comprised of $50 million at closing and two additional $50 million payments, conditional upon the initiation of potential pivotal clinical trials for oHCM and nHCM, respectively.
From these transactions, Cytokinetics anticipates receipt of up to $150 million in near-term funding. Together with its proforma cash at the end of 2021 which was bolstered by transactions executed by Cytokinetics last year, this funding from Royalty Pharma enables Cytokinetics to have at least two years of cash runway based on expected 2022 expenditures, inclusive of planned commercialization activities and expanded pipeline development programs.
Cooley LLP and Morrison Foerster acted as legal advisors to Cytokinetics on the transactions. Goodwin Procter, Fenwick & West LLP, Dechert and Maiwald acted as legal advisors to Royalty Pharma.
Conference Call and Webcast Information
Members of Cytokinetics’ senior management team will host a conference call and webcast today at 8:30 AM Eastern Time. The webcast can be accessed through the Investors & Media section of the Cytokinetics website at www.cytokinetics.com. The live audio of the conference call can also be accessed by telephone by dialing either (866) 999-CYTK (2985) (United States and Canada) or (706) 679-3078 (international) and typing in the passcode 5478696.
An archived replay of the webcast will be available via Cytokinetics’ website until January 21, 2022. The replay will also be available via telephone by dialing (855) 859-2056 (United States and Canada) or (404) 537-3406 (international) and typing in the passcode 5478696 from January 7, 2022 at 11:30 AM Eastern Time until January 21, 2022.
About Omecamtiv Mecarbil
Omecamtiv mecarbil is an investigational, selective, small molecule cardiac myosin activator, the first of a novel class of myotropes1 designed to directly target the contractile mechanisms of the heart, binding to and recruiting more cardiac myosin heads to interact with actin during systole. Omecamtiv mecarbil is designed to increase the number of active actin-myosin cross bridges during each cardiac cycle and consequently augment the impaired contractility that is associated with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Preclinical research has shown that omecamtiv mecarbil increases cardiac contractility without increasing intracellular myocyte calcium concentrations or myocardial oxygen consumption.2-4
The development program for omecamtiv mecarbil is assessing its potential for the treatment of HFrEF. Positive results from GALACTIC-HF, the first Phase 3 clinical trial of omecamtiv mecarbil demonstrated a statistically significant effect of treatment with omecamtiv mecarbil to reduce risk of the primary composite endpoint of cardiovascular (CV) death or heart failure events (heart failure hospitalization and other urgent treatment for heart failure) compared to placebo in patients treated with standard of care. No reduction in the secondary endpoint of time to CV death was observed. Adverse events and treatment discontinuation of study drug were balanced between treatment arms. METEORIC-HF, a second Phase 3 clinical trial of omecamtiv mecarbil is designed to evaluate the effect of treatment with omecamtiv mecarbil compared to placebo on exercise capacity. Results from METEORIC-HF are expected in early 2022.
About Aficamten
Aficamten is an investigational selective, small molecule cardiac myosin inhibitor discovered following an extensive chemical optimization program that was conducted with careful attention to therapeutic index and pharmacokinetic properties and as may translate into next-in-class potential in clinical development. Aficamten was designed to reduce the number of active actin-myosin cross bridges during each cardiac cycle and consequently suppress the myocardial hypercontractility that is associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). In preclinical models, aficamten reduced myocardial contractility by binding directly to cardiac myosin at a distinct and selective allosteric binding site, thereby preventing myosin from entering a force producing state.
The development program for aficamten is assessing its potential as a treatment that improves exercise capacity and relieves symptoms in patients with HCM as well as its long-term effects on cardiac structure and function. Cytokinetics is currently conducting start-up activities for SEQUOIA-HCM (Safety, Efficacy, and Quantitative Understanding of Obstruction Impact of Aficamten in HCM), the Phase 3 clinical trial of aficamten in patients with symptomatic obstructive HCM. The company is also planning for an expanded development program that may evaluate aficamten in indications such as non-obstructive HCM and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).