Cytokinetics has been on a tear as the biotech pioneers more drugs to fight heart ailments

Investors are recognizing ripe opportunities Cytokineticsis a late-stage biopharma company targeting specific heart disease drugs, whose shares have soared in recent months.

Shares of Cytokinetics are up nearly 69% in the last three months and are up 31% year to date. The stock is one of the best-performing companies based in San Francisco, which CNBC’s Brian Sullivan profiled this week on City by the Bay’s Power Lunch.

The stock rose in early September after the company published strong phase 3 trial results for its lead cardio drug called Aficamten, a cardiac myosin inhibitor that showed improvement in exercise capacity in patients with obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Cytokinetics is currently awaiting approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for its drug, fueling high-powered investor interest in the company as it could disrupt the space dominated by publicly traded biotech giant Bristol Myers Squibb.

Cytokinetics initially discovered and developed drugs linked to heart disease, and one of those drugs, Mavacamten, was later acquired by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020. Under the transaction agreements, Bristol Myers Squibb obtained the rights to use the drug for products it developed or commercialized, while Cytokinetics obtained the capital, which it then used to fund further clinical trials.

Now, Cytokinetics wants to compete directly with Bristol Myers Squibb because its new drug targets the same disease.

“[Bristol Myers Squibb] In fact, they commercialize a drug found in our laboratories and ultimately become part of a company we founded. Now they’re selling it, they’re doing a great job. Patients are benefiting from this drug,” Blum said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” We’re currently in the process of developing a next-generation drug that we hope will fall into the same area. It’s before the FDA for possible approval later this year.”

Cytokinetics receives funding from specialist biotechnology financing firms and uses a mix of franchise financing and partnerships to secure investment in drug development.

“This journey has required us to do a number of things while we’re now investing in research and ultimately some financial engineering to support the billions of dollars we’re spending developing a portfolio of potential drugs,” Blum told CNBC. He added that heart disease is the leading cause of hospitalization among Americans, especially among the increasingly aging demographic.

“Our portfolio and pipeline of potential drugs for these diseases means we are well positioned to build a lasting business, starting with this first potential drug,” he said.