CYTK vs MRK

Cytokinetics Incorporated

Cytokinetics, Incorporated, a late-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on discovering, developing, and commercializing muscle activators and inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases. The company is developing small molecule drug candidates primarily engineered to increase muscle function and contractility. Its drug candidates include omecamtiv mecarbil, a novel cardiac myosin activator that is in Phase III clinical trial in patients with heart failure; and reldesemtiv, a novel fast skeletal muscle troponin activator, which is in Phase II clinical trial to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal muscular atrophy. The company also develops reldesemtiv that is in Phase II clinical trials in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and in Phase Ib clinical trials in elderly subjects with limited mobility. In addition, it develops CK-3773274 (CK-274), a novel cardiac myosin inhibitor, which is in Phase II clinical trial for the potential treatment of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy; CK-136, a novel cardiac troponin activator that is in Phase I clinical trial; and CK-3772271 (CK-271), a novel cardiac myosin inhibitor that is in Phase I clinical trial. The company has a strategic alliance with Astellas Pharma Inc. Cytokinetics, Incorporated was incorporated in 1997 and is headquartered in South San Francisco, California.

Merck & Company Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and women's health, as well as vaccine products. The Animal Health segment provides discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets a range of veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as a suite of digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products. The company has collaborations with AstraZeneca PLC; Bayer AG; Eisai Co., Ltd.; and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics. It serves drug wholesalers and retailers, hospitals, and government agencies; managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations, pharmacy benefit managers, and other institutions; and physicians and physician distributors, veterinarians, and animal producers. The company has collaboration agreement with Gilead Sciences, Inc. to co-develop and co-commercialize long-acting investigational treatment combinations of Lenacapavir and Islatravir in HIV; Amathus Therapeutics to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases; and Linnaeus Therapeutics, Inc. to evaluate LNS8801 in combination with KEYTRUDA for patients with advanced cancer. It also has a collaboration with Biomed X Gmbh for building on ongoing research projects in the fields of oncology (DNA damage response and RNA splicing) and autoimmunity (intestinal epithelial barrier in autoimmune diseases); and a collaboration agreement with NGM Biopharmaceuticals, Inc. to focus primarily on the development of novel medicines for unmet patient needs in retinal and CVM diseases, including heart failure. Merck & Co., Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Kenilworth, New Jersey.