Cytokinetics Presents Exploratory Analyses of Data from Phase 3 Clinical Trial of Dexpramipexole in Patients with ALS

Cytokinetics, Inc.

today announced the presentation of exploratory analyses of data from EMPOWER, a Phase 3 clinical trial of dexpramipexole in patients with ALS, which demonstrated the rate of decline of slow vital capacity (SVC) predicts the risk of meaningful clinical events, including a decline in the three respiratory questions of the ALSFRS-R, as well as the time to the first occurrence of respiratory insufficiency, tracheostomy or death.  Data from placebo-treated patients in EMPOWER were provided to Cytokinetics by Knopp Biosciences.  The analyses were presented recently at the 6th Annual California ALS Research Summit in La Jolla, California. Vital capacity measures the amount of air expelled from the lungs after a maximum inhalation and is used to assess the strength of the skeletal muscles responsible for breathing (e.g., the diaphragm). Vital capacity is often expressed in terms of the percentage of the normal value predicted for the individual patient's sex, age, and height; i.e., percent predicted vital capacity.  It has been shown to be an important predictor of disease progression and survival in previous clinical trials in patients with ALS who typically die of