Cytokinetics, Inc. is a publicly traded

biopharmaceutical A biopharmaceutical, also known as a biological medical product, or biologic, is any pharmaceutical drug product manufactured in, extracted from, or semisynthesized from biological sources. Different from totally synthesized pharmaceuticals, t ...

company based in

South San Francisco, California South San Francisco is a city in San Mateo County, California, United States, located on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is colloquially known as "South City". The population was 66,105 at the 2020 censu ...

, that develops muscle activators and muscle inhibitors as potential treatments for people with diseases characterized by impaired or declining muscle function.

History

Cytokinetics was founded in 1997 by

James Spudich James A. Spudich () is an American scientist and professor. He is the Douglass M. and Nola Leishman Professor of Biochemistry and of Cardiovascular Disease at Stanford University and works on the molecular basis of muscle contraction. He was awa ...

Ronald Vale Ronald David Vale (born 1959) is a biochemist and cell biologist. He is a professor at the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology, University of California, San Francisco. His research is focused on motor proteins, particularly kinesi ...

, James Sabry and Lawrence S.B. Goldstein, four scientists at

Stanford Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

UCSD The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is th ...

, and

UCSF The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a public land-grant research university in San Francisco, California. It is part of the University of California system and is dedicated entirely to health science and life science. It cond ...

. Operations began in 1998. Initially, Cytokinetics focused on the possible pharmacological targets and areas of application of drugs based on cytoskeletal proteins. Eventually, the company narrowed its focus to the mechanics of muscle biology. Cytokinetics develops muscle activators and muscle inhibitors to improve muscle function in patients with cardiovascular and neuromuscular diseases. In 2004 the company completed its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investme ...

(IPO). In January 2007, Cytokinetics named Robert I. Blum as president and CEO. Prior to this, Blum has been involved in the company since its founding, with roles in business development, corporate development and R&D. In 2013, Cytokinetics finalized a licensing and discovery deal with Astellas to research treatment for muscle weakness and fatigue. In July 2020, Ji Xing Pharmaceuticals signed a financing deal with Cytokinetics, which included the rights to commercialize the drug designed to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathies, ''aficamten'', in China and certain neighboring regions.

Products

Omecamtiv mecarbil Omecamtiv mecarbil ( INN), previously referred to as CK-1827452, is a cardiac-specific myosin activator. It is being studied for a potential role in the treatment of left ventricular systolic heart failure. Systolic heart failure involves a loss ...

'', a cardiac muscle activator for the potential treatment of

heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...

. In May 2020, ''omecamtiv mecarbil'' was granted fast track designation by the

FDA The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food s ...

for the treatment of chronic HF with reduced ejection fraction.

Amgen Amgen Inc. (formerly Applied Molecular Genetics Inc.) is an American multinational biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Thousand Oaks, California. One of the world's largest independent biotechnology companies, Amgen was established in ...

purchased an option on ''omecamtiv mecarbil'' in 2006, and the two companies extended their partnership several times. In June 2013, Cytokinetics and Amgen expanded their licensing deal for ''omecamtiv mecarbil'' to include Japan. In November 2020 Amgen elected to terminate the collaboration, effective May 20, 2021 and Cytokinetics regained worldwide rights to develop and commercialize omecamtiv mecarbil. ''Reldesemtiv'' (previously known as CK-2127107), is a next-generation fast skeletal muscle troponin activator (FSTA) that has undergone clinical trials for ALS. ''Aficamten'' (previously known as CK-3773274), is an oral, small-molecule myosin inhibitor, to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

References

External links

{{Authority control Pharmaceutical companies established in 1997 Companies based in South San Francisco, California Pharmaceutical companies of the United States Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange