MLV & Co Sees Good Things Ahead for Cytokinetics

In a report published Tuesday, MLV & Co analyst George B. Zavoico reiterated a Hold rating and $5.00 price target on

. In the report, MLV & Co noted, “Over the weekend, results of the international, randomized, double-blind Phase III PARADIGM-HF trial of LCZ696 versus enalapril in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF) were presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) annual meeting in Barcelona, Spain. The trial was stopped early following an interim analysis by an independent Data and Safety and Monitoring Committee (DSMC) in March 2014 showing that LCZ696 demonstrated a statistically significant clinical benefit versus enalapril after a median follow-up of 27 months. If LCZ696 becomes the standard of care for patients with CHF, as some cardiologists now expect (based on comments at the ESC meeting), then we think it is likely that a combination of Cytokinetics' omecamtiv mecarbil with LCZ696 will have to be evaluated. Due to the different mechanisms of action we think omecamtiv may have an additive or synergistic effect with LCZ696, without sacrificing safety. We maintain our HOLD recommendation and $5.00 price target based on uncertainties regarding future development of tirasemtiv for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We note that the PARADIGM-HF results do not change our positive outlook for omecamtiv.” Cytokinetics closed on Friday at $4.28.