Cytokinetics wins UK approval, NICE backing for heart disease drug

July 30 (Reuters) - Britain’s medicines regulator approved Cytokinetics’ CYTK.O drug for a rare heart condition on Thursday, with the country’s cost-effectiveness watchdog recommending it for NHS reimbursement, potentially reaching about 6,600 patients.

The drug, under the brand name Myqorzo, is approved for patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (oHCM), a condition in which the heart muscle becomes abnormally thick and forms an obstruction that can reduce blood flow to the body.

Here are some details:

• The UK cost-effectiveness watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), recommended Myqorzo, chemically known as aficamten, for eligible adult patients in England and Wales, paving the way for reimbursement through the NHS.
• The NICE recommendation covers adults with symptomatic oHCM classified as New York Heart Association (NYHA) class II or III.
• The treatment can be used in addition to standard therapies, or as a standalone treatment when those medicines are unsuitable.
• Around 1 in 500 people in the UK has HCM, and in roughly half of cases it is inherited.
• The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency’s approval was supported by late-stage data in which patients treated with Myqorzo for 24 weeks showed a statistically significant improvement in peak oxygen uptake, a measure of exercise capacity, compared with those receiving placebo.
• Myqorzo is a cardiac myosin inhibitor, the same class as Bristol Myers Squibb’s BMY.N Camzyos, which is approved for the same condition.
• The approval expands Myqorzo’s footprint beyond the U.S., where the FDA approved the drug in December 2025 and Cytokinetics began commercial sales in January.