More Positive Data on Mavacamten Presented at ACC Meeting

More positive data about the Bristol Myers Squibb experimental drug mavacamten was revealed at last weekend’s American College of Cardiology meeting and simultaneously published in The Lancet.

The data showed improvement in how patients felt taking the drug, as reported and quantified by the patients themselves. The clinical trial participants filled out a questionnaire called the KCCQ, or Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire, 6 different times over the 38 weeks that the trial was ongoing.

Continue reading “More Positive Data on Mavacamten Presented at ACC Meeting”

HCM Drug Shows Improvement to Heart Structure

The results from the Myokardia EXPLORER- MRI sub-study are in, and there is more positive news for mavacamten (formerly known as MYK-461). According to the results of this small 35 patient study, patients who took mavacamten showed reduction of left ventricular size and wall thickness on MRI. These patients also had a reduction in their left atrial volume. All three of these measurements are predictors of poor outcome for HCM patients Additionally, this study found a reduction in certain biomarkers such as NT-proBNP, which indicate heart stress and injury.

MyoKardia (which was recently acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb) hopes that this drug will be approved by the FDA and available to American HCM patients by the end of this year.

For more on the progress of mavacamten, read these previous entries on HCMBeat:

Positive Results for MyoKardia Drug Mavacamten

MyoKardia Announces Positive Result for Mavacamten for Treatment of HOCM

MyoKardia Announces Positive Results from EXPLORER Trial

More Positive Results for MyoKardia Drug

MyoKardia’s EXPLORER Trial Big Success

 
 
 
DISCLOSURES:   CYNTHIA BURSTEIN WALDMAN OF HCMBEAT SERVED AS A PATIENT ADVISOR ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF MYOKARDIA’S EXPLORER TRIAL. CYNTHIA ALSO SERVES ON MYOKARDIA’S PATIENT ADVISORY BOARD

MyoKardia’s EXPLORER Trial Big Success

The results of MyoKardia’s Stage 3 EXPLORER study for its experimental drug mavacamten were presented on Saturday at the European Society of Cardiology’s virtual annual meeting and contemporaneously published in The Lancet

The findings from the study showed that mavacamten improved exercise capacity, reduced left ventricular outflow tract gradient (responsible for the obstruction in HCM) and improved New York Heart Association functional class, correlating with a reduction in symptoms and an improvement in quality of life in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. 

This was the largest placebo controlled randomized trial ever conducted in HCM. Additionally, mavacamten is the first drug specifically developed for the treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. All drugs previously used for HCM symptoms were developed to treat other conditions and were used “off label” to treat HCM.

According to Florence, Italy’s Dr. Iacopo Olivotto, who presented the results to ESC’s virtual audience, mavacamten was generally well tolerated and did not appear to have serious side effects.

MyoKardia said the Explorer-HCM data will form the basis of its submission to the FDA which is planned for the first quarter of 2021.  Last month, the company announced that the drug was awarded “Breakthrough Drug” designation by the FDA which it hopes will streamline the approval process.

Also, a new trial comparing mavacamten to septal myectomy and septal alcohol ablation entitled VALOR-HCM for patients with symptomatic, obstructive HCM and who are New York Heart Association Class III – IV who meet the criteria for septal reduction therapy and have been referred for such a procedure has just gotten underway with the first patient enrolled earlier this month.

DISCLOSURES:  HCMBEAT HAS RECEIVED UNRESTRICTED EDUCATIONAL GRANTS FROM MYOKARDIA.  ADDITIONALLY, CYNTHIA BURSTEIN WALDMAN OF HCMBEAT SERVED AS A PATIENT ADVISOR ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF MYOKARDIA’S EXPLORER TRIAL and is credited as an author of the study as published in the lancet.  cynthia also serves on myokardia’s patient advisory board.

MyoKardia Announces Positive Results from EXPLORER Trial

MyoKardia today announced positive topline results for its experimental drug mavacamten from its recent Stage 3 EXPLORER trial for patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or HCM.

According to the press release, the drug met all primary and secondary endpoints, while relieving outflow tract obstruction, improving symptoms and enhancing quality of life for the patients enrolled in the trial.  Furthermore, the drug was well tolerated and appeared to be free of significant side effects.

MyoKardia plans to seek FDA approval for mavacamten, the first drug specifically targeting the underlying biological mechanism of HCM, in the first quarter of 2021.

Full results of the EXPLORER study will be presented at a scientific meeting later this year.

 

DISCLOSURES:  CYNTHIA BURSTEIN WALDMAN OF HCMBEAT SERVES AS PATIENT ADVISOR ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE OF MYOKARDIA’S EXPLORER TRIAL AND AS A MEMBER OF MYOKARDIA’S PATIENT ADVISORY BOARD.

 

 

More Positive Results for MyoKardia Drug

Findings from MyoKardia’s Phase 2 Maverick clinical trial of its experimental drug mavacamten in non-obstructive HCM were announced on Monday at the online 69th Annual Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology.

Dr. Carolyn Ho of Harvard’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital reported to online viewers that mavacamten was generally well tolerated.  In addition, the drug showed promising results in this Phase 2 trial intended to demonstrate the safety of the drug. In particular, some relevant additional observations were reductions in blood levels of two biomarkers of cardiac stress and injury – namely  NT-proBNP which indicates hemodynamic stress, and cardiac troponin I, which is a biomarker of myocardial injury.

These findings look promising for non-obstructive HCM patients who currently have very limited treatment options.

HCM Clinical Trials – the Latest News

NEWS FROM MYOKARDIA

MyoKardia recently announced a new clinical trial of its drug, mavacamten (formerly known as MYK-461) which will compare the clinical results of mavacamten with septal reduction therapies currently used in clinical practice, i.e. the open heart surgical procedure known as septal myectomy and the catheter based procedure known as alcohol septal ablation.

The study will be run by the Cleveland Clinic with Dr. Milind Desai serving as principal investigator.  MyoKardia expect to begin enrolling patients in early 2020.

Read the press release here.

 

NEWS FROM CYTOKINETICS:

Cytokinetics released positive data from its Phase 1 study of the drug currently known as CK-274 in a poster session at the HFSA 23rd Annual Scientific Meeting in Philadelphia.  The study found that CK-274 was safe and well tolerated, while no serious adverse events or negative changes to vital signs, ECGs or laboratory tests were observed.

The company will now be moving into a Phase 2 clinical trial of CK-274 in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, expected to begin in late 2019.

Read their press release here.

 

 

DISCLOSURES:  HCMBEAT HAS RECEIVED PAST UNRESTRICTED EDUCATIONAL GRANTS FROM MYOKARDIA.  ADDITIONALLY, CYNTHIA BURSTEIN WALDMAN OF HCMBEAT SERVES AS A PATIENT ADVISOR ON THE STEERING COMMITTEE FOR MYOKARDIA’S EXPLORER TRIAL.

2 Companies Testing Drugs for HCM

Two San Francisco based companies are now conducting clinical trials for three drugs specifically targeting HCM.

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Can a Smartwatch Detect HOCM?

According to a limited study recently published in Nature, researchers were able to detect obstructive HCM (HOCM) using a noninvasive optical sensor contained in many commercial smartwatches.

How the Technology Works

These watches used photoplethysmography, a noninvasive optical method used to detect blood volume changes in the microvascular bed at the skin surface.  The same technology is used in clinical pulse oximeters and is now widely incorporated in commercial smartwatches that have heart rate detection.

Continue reading “Can a Smartwatch Detect HOCM?”

Positive Results for MyoKardia Drug Mavacamten

This week in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, MyoKardia reported positive results from its open label phase 2 clinical trial of its drug mavacamten (formerly known as MYK-461) for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. The study was conducted at 5 HCM centers and enrolled 21 subjects with  obstructive HCM. All subjects saw some degree of improvement to their condition after taking mavacamten.

Continue reading “Positive Results for MyoKardia Drug Mavacamten”

MyoKardia Announces Positive Result for Mavacamten for Treatment of HOCM

This week, MyoKardia announced positive data on its experimental drug for HCM, mavacamten (formerly known as MYK-461), for obstructive HCM.

Continue reading “MyoKardia Announces Positive Result for Mavacamten for Treatment of HOCM”