Cytokinetics is dedicated to the discovery, development and commercialization of novel classes of small molecule therapeutics. To date, our drug candidates and potential drug candidates have all arisen from our leadership position in the emerging field of cytoskeletal pharmacology. The cytoskeleton is a complex, dynamic framework of proteins that is essential for many aspects of cell function including cell division, cell motility, intracellular transport, muscle contractility and regulation of cellular organization. Each of our drug discovery programs begins with a defined therapeutic hypothesis that focuses on the etiology or pathophysiology of the disease of interest. These therapeutic hypotheses are informed by either having already been validated by existing pharmaceuticals that target a cytoskeletal protein that play an important role in the treatment of the disease or by genetic mutations in a cytoskeletal protein gives rise to the disease.

Each of Cytokinetics’ programs afford the company an opportunity to identify multiple drug candidates against each of several molecular targets within a cohesive biology or pathway. The company’s programs are informed by first-generation pharmaceuticals that inform an opportunity for our scientists to develop next-generation approaches that may address specific liabilities of the existing therapies. Our R&D efforts incorporate our proprietary Cytometrix™ automated cellular phenotyping technologies and are focused on serving pharmaceutical needs in cardiovascular disease and cancer.

To learn more about our programs, in either cardiovascular disease or oncology, please click on the highlighted links for those programs.