Bayer Begins Phase I Study on BAY 3670549 in Atrial Fibrillation

Bayer AG BAYRY announced that it has initiated a phase I study, which is evaluating its investigational highly selective GIRK4 inhibitor, BAY 3670549, for the treatment of patients with atrial fibrillation (AFib).

The double-blind, placebo-controlled first-in-human dose escalation study will evaluate safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of BAY 3670549 in healthy participants.

AFib is a common heart rhythm disorder that affects around 60 million people across the world. AFib is a notable risk factor for stroke and heart failure.

Per management, the current standard for treating acute AFib episodes is electric cardioversion (ECV). However, the process remains challenging as it requires sedation or anesthesia to safely deliver an electrical shock to the patient’s heart in order to restore its normal sinus rhythm.

BAY 3670549 has the potential to help control the electrical activity of cardiomyocytes in patients with AFib.

The successful development of BAY 3670549, should strengthen Bayer’s cardiovascular portfolio.

BAYRY Stock Performance

Year to date, shares of Bayer have rallied 36.7% against the industry’s decline of 3.9%.

BAYRY's Encouraging Pipeline Progress

Bayer is making good pipeline progress with some clinical milestones expected later in 2025. Bayer has also made some notable mergers and acquisitions to diversify and boost its portfolio of drug candidates.

The company plans to launch new drugs — elinzanetant, a hormone-free treatment for menopause symptoms, and acoramidis, a drug for the treatment of a certain form of heart disease. In February 2025, acoramidis was granted regulatory approval in the EU under the brand name Beyonttra.

Bayer had acquired marketing rights to the cardiovascular candidate acoramidis in Europe from BridgeBio BBIO. The rights were acquired from Eidos Therapeutics Inc., BridgeBio International GmbH and BridgeBio Europe B.V.

Bayer has expanded its pipeline in new modalities to include competencies in cell therapy through the acquisition of BlueRock and in gene therapy through the acquisition of AskBio.

Bayer, together with its subsidiaries, BlueRock and AskBio, is developing preclinical and clinical cell and gene therapies for treating various disorders, including congestive heart failure and Parkinson's disease, among others.

BAYRY's Zacks Rank & Other Stocks to Consider

Bayer currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).

Some other top-ranked stocks in the biotech sector are Halozyme Therapeutics HALO and Amarin Corporation AMRN, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Halozyme’s earnings per share have increased from $5.02 to $5.23 for 2025. During the same time, earnings per share estimates for 2026 have increased from $6.56 to $6.77. Year to date, shares of HALO have risen 11.8%.

HALO’s earnings beat estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 17.60%.

In the past 60 days, estimates for Amarin’s loss per share have narrowed from $5.33 to $3.48 for 2025. During the same time, loss per share estimates for 2026 have narrowed from $4.13 to $2.67. Year to date, shares of AMRN have increased 14.5%.

AMRN’s earnings beat estimates in two of the trailing four quarters, met the same once and missed the same on the remaining occasion, the average surprise being 29.11%.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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