May 13 (Reuters) - Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) said on Tuesday

its experimental heart disease drug significantly improved

patients' ability to exercise compared to standard-of-care

treatment in a late-stage study.

The keenly watched drug, aficamten, significantly improved

peak oxygen uptake, which was the study's main goal, compared to

metoprolol after 24 weeks of treatment, the company said.

The drug is being developed to treat obstructive

hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a condition that makes heart

muscles stiff and can cause cardiac arrest.

Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) said it will present full results from the

study at an upcoming medical meeting.

The drug had previously met the main goal in a separate

late-stage study in 2023, where analysts said it showed

favorable safety and efficacy compared to rival treatment

Camzyos from Bristol Myers Squibb ( BMY ).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is set to decide on

aficamten by December 26.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh

Kuber and Shinjini Ganguli)