US-based cardiovascular biopharmaceutical company Cytokinetics Inc (Nasdaq:CYTK) and German pharmaceutical and life sciences company Bayer AG (ETR:BAYN) (OTC:BAYRY) announced on Tuesday a collaboration and licence agreement for the development and commercialisation of aficamten in Japan.

Aficamten is a next-generation cardiac myosin inhibitor designed to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

Under the terms of the agreement Cytokinetics will receive upfront payments and milestone payments, as well as tiered royalties on future sales of aficamten in Japan.

Bayer will conduct a Phase 3 clinical trial in Japanese patients with obstructive HCM, while Cytokinetics will expand its ongoing ACACIA-HCM and CEDAR-HCM trials to include Japanese patients.

This partnership aims to bring aficamten to patients with HCM in Japan and address a significant unmet medical need.