Lianbio Co. Ltd. gained its first Asian approval in Macau for Camzyos (mavacamten/Myokardia Inc.) for treating adults with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM). The company in-licensed mavacamten rights from Myokardia, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Bristol Myers Squibb Co., in August 2020 for developing and commercializing mavacamten in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand and Singapore. Mavacamten was granted breakthrough therapy designation in China in February 2022 for patients with oHCM.
Bristol Myers Squibb Co.’s audacious $13.1 billion 2020 takeover of Myokardia Inc. appears to have paid off with U.S. FDA approval of the drug at the heart of the deal, mavacamten. The medicine, a cardiac myosin inhibitor for treating adults with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), will be marketed under the brand name Camzyos.
Pharmaceutical agents took center stage in Washington on the first full day of the 2022 scientific sessions of the American College of Cardiology, such as an April 2 presentation on the use of the mavacamten for obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (OHC). Milind Desai of the Cleveland Clinic said 16-week data for this cardiac myosin inhibitor showed well in reducing heart failure class status, but there are data arising from studies in China which suggest that radiofrequency (RF) ablation might also work for these patients.
Cytokinetics Inc. as a competitor for Myokardia Inc.’s cardiovascular drug, mavacamten, didn’t come up until near the end of the conference call related to the $13.1 billion buyout of the latter company by Bristol Myers Squibb Co., but the prospect is on Wall Street’s mind.