Cytokinetics is not looking to be acquired, CEO says

SAN FRANCISCO — Cytokinetics CEO Robert Blum is very clear. The company — on track to secure U.S. approval in September for a drug to treat a serious heart condition — is not for sale. 

With more than $1 billion raised last year, Blum is preparing Cytokinetics to launch the drug, called aficamten for now, on its own. 

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Before you start cursing his name, know that Blum was also clear he is not an “empire builder.” Speaking to me Sunday from a hotel suite overlooking Union Square ahead of the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, neither he, nor the company’s board, will ignore their fiduciary obligations to shareholders, he said. 

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