Cytokinetics Announces Recipients of Its Fifth Annual Communications Grant Program

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 30, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cytokinetics, Incorporated (Nasdaq: CYTK) today announced the recipients of its fifth annual Communications Grant Program, intended to support communications, awareness building and community engagement for nonprofit organizations serving the patient community.

Five grants in the amount of $20,000 each were awarded this year to patient advocacy organizations focused on heart failure, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) communities. The grants will support projects to increase organizational reach, launch educational programs, grant patients access to conferences and reach underserved populations.

“We are continuously impressed by the quality of proposals we receive, and this year’s recipients were particularly impactful, reflecting the unique needs of the patient communities they serve,” said Mary Pomerantz, Cytokinetics’ Senior Director of Patient Advocacy and Engagement. “As more in-person gatherings resume this year, along with digital connections, we are pleased to support these valuable communications initiatives to bring enhanced awareness to and meaningfully address the unmet needs of patients living with heart failure, HCM and ALS and their caregivers.”

The recipients of the 2023 Cytokinetics Communications Grants are the following:

HeartBrothers Foundation: The HeartBrothers Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to helping heart failure patients and their families navigate the complex journey of heart failure, mechanical circulatory support and heart transplantation. HeartBrothers will use this grant to expand outreach efforts to grow digital and in-person partnerships with heart failure hospitals nationwide and increase awareness and access to its resources for patients.

The Mended Hearts, Inc. (MHI): MHI is the world’s largest cardiovascular peer-to-peer support organization with a mission of inspiring hope and helping to improve the quality of life of heart patients and their families through ongoing peer support, education and advocacy. This grant will allow MHI to develop digital resources to promote the early detection of cardiomyopathy and help patients fully understand their disease, risk factors, treatment options and resources for informed decision-making.

Northeast Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Consortium® (NEALS): NEALS is an international, independent, non-profit academic research consortium that serves as a resource for the greater ALS community and aims to rapidly translate scientific advances into clinical research and new treatments for people with ALS. With this grant, NEALS will create and implement a pilot program, the ALS Clinical Research Communication and Outreach Tour (ARC), that will expand on current education and awareness capabilities through in-person visits to underserved ALS communities in the United States.

The ALS Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter: The ALS Association Greater Philadelphia Chapter serves approximately 1,200 people with ALS and their families in eastern Pennsylvania, south and central New Jersey and Delaware. With this grant, the Chapter will expand and enhance educational communications through the creation of professional videos, targeted mailings and website upgrades to raise awareness of the family assistance support offered by the Chapter, and of ALS more broadly, with hopes of leading to earlier diagnosis and treatment.

WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease: WomenHeart is a patient-centered organization that strives to advance women’s heart health through patient support, community education and advocacy. WomenHeart will use this grant to launch a year-long social media campaign focused on highlighting diverse patient stories with the goal of bringing attention to health disparities faced by women of color and promoting health equity.

About the Cytokinetics Communications Grant Program

The Cytokinetics Communications Grant Program are unrestricted project support corporate contribution grants that are awarded annually to patient advocacy organizations serving patients with heart failure, HCM or ALS to provide funding in support of communications, awareness and outreach. Cytokinetics has no oversight, involvement or management of the actual projects, programs or outputs. The goal of the Communications Grant Program is to assist patient advocacy organizations by increasing resources in order to better support patient communities and bring increased awareness to the disease in the communities they serve. The call for proposals for the 2024 Communications Grant Program will be announced in Fall 2023.

About Cytokinetics

Cytokinetics is a late-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing first-in-class muscle activators and next-in-class muscle inhibitors as potential treatments for debilitating diseases in which muscle performance is compromised. As a leader in muscle biology and the mechanics of muscle performance, the company is developing small molecule drug candidates specifically engineered to impact muscle function and contractility. Cytokinetics is readying for the potential commercialization of omecamtiv mecarbil, its cardiac muscle activator, following positive results from GALACTIC-HF, a large, international Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with heart failure. Cytokinetics is also developing aficamten, a next-in-class cardiac myosin inhibitor, currently the subject of SEQUOIA-HCM, the Phase 3 clinical trial of aficamten in patients with symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Aficamten is also being evaluated in non-obstructive HCM in Cohort 4 of the Phase 2 clinical trial, REDWOOD-HCM. Cytokinetics is also developing reldesemtiv, an investigational fast skeletal muscle troponin activator, currently the subject of COURAGE-ALS, a Phase 3 clinical trial in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In 2023, Cytokinetics is celebrating its 25 year history of pioneering innovation in muscle biology and related pharmacology focused to diseases of muscle dysfunction and conditions of muscle weakness.

For additional information about Cytokinetics, visit www.cytokinetics.com and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements for purposes of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the “Act”). Cytokinetics disclaims any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements and claims the protection of the Act’s Safe Harbor for forward-looking statements. Examples of such statements include, but are not limited to, statements relating to Cytokinetics’ and its partners’ research and development activities of Cytokinetics’ product candidates. Such statements are based on management’s current expectations, but actual results may differ materially due to various risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to the risks related to Cytokinetics’ business outlines in Cytokinetics’ filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and Cytokinetics’ actual results of operations, financial condition and liquidity, and the development of the industry in which it operates, may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Any forward-looking statements that Cytokinetics makes in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release. Cytokinetics assumes no obligation to update its forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date of this press release.

CYTOKINETICS® and the CYTOKINETICS and C-shaped logo are registered trademarks of Cytokinetics in the U.S. and certain other countries.

Contact:
Cytokinetics
Diane Weiser
Senior Vice President, Corporate Communications, Investor Relations
(415) 290-7757