Switzerland-based drug maker Novartis is reportedly in advanced talks to buy American biotechnology company Cytokinetics.
Novartis is expected to win the Cytokinetics auction, surpassing competitors such as AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, reported Reuters.
The deal is also expected to grant Novartis access to Cytokinetics’ experimental treatment, Aficamten, for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) treatment.
In December 2023, Aficamten met the primary endpoint of improvement in patients’ exercise capacity in a late-stage trial.
In a separate development, Novartis said that Scemblix (asciminib) with investigators’ choice of tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI) has shown superior major molecular response (MMR) rates against standard‐of‐care TKIs in Phase 3 trial.
Scemblix is designed to target the ABL myristoyl pocket and reduce off-target kinase-mediated effect.
ASC4FIRST study assessed Scemblix in newly diagnosed patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).
The study met both primary endpoints of MMR rate for Scemblix compared to investigator selected TKIs and compared to imatinib, showing clinically meaningful and statistically significant results for both endpoints.
In addition, the drug demonstrated a favourable safety and tolerability profile with fewer adverse events (AEs) and treatment discontinuations in comparison to investigator selected standard-of-care TKIs.
Novartis development and chief medical officer president Shreeram Aradhye said: “We are excited that Scemblix may help people newly diagnosed with CML achieve their treatment goals while continuing to live their lives.
“Given the chronic nature of their condition, patients often need to be on TKI therapy for many years, so treatment options that are well tolerated and highly efficacious are crucial to support adherence.
“This study outcome builds on our 20-year legacy in CML innovation as we strive to continue to address the remaining unmet needs for people living with this blood cancer.”
The trial is still in progress, and the next scheduled data readout for week 96 will assess other secondary endpoints in addition to the key secondary endpoint.
Novartis plans to provide additional details as part of regulatory submissions in 2024.
In August 2022, the Swiss drug maker secured European Commission approval for Scemblix to treat a type of CML in adult patients.
