Cytokinetics, Inc. (CYTK)

[H2R]

The competition: edaravone approved (Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. -
OTCPK:MTZPY)

https://seekingalpha.com/news/3264382-fda-approves-first-u-s-als-treatment-20-years

FDA approves first U.S. ALS treatment in 20 years

May 5, 2017 5:32 PM ET|By: Jason Aycock, SA News Editor
The FDA has approved the first treatment for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- "Lou Gehrig's disease" -- in more than two decades in the U.S.

The drug, edaravone, is already sold in Japan and South Korea by Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corp. (OTCPK:MTZPY).

It would compete with a generic on the market (riluzole). And AB Science (OTCPK:ABSCF) is working on a promising drug for ALS that's now under European review.

After six months of treatment with edaravone, data showed it reducing the rate of functional decline in ALS patients by about a third, MT Pharma America says.

Cytokinetics (NASDAQ:CYTK), whose lead compound is being studied for ALS, could also move on the news, and Mallinckrodt (MNK +1.8%) had said it planned to start a study of H.P. Acthar Gel in ALS this year.