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

Investors are noticing ripe opportunity in Cytokinetics, a late-stage biopharma company targeting medicines for specialty heart diseases, that has seen shares skyrocket in recent months.

Shares of Cytokinetics have jumped about 69% over the past three months and are up 31% year to date. The stock is one of the top-performing San Francisco-based companies profiled by CNBC’s Brian Sullivan on Power Lunch this week from the City by the Bay.

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

Cytokinetics originally discovered and developed drugs that are tied to heart disease, and one of those drugs, called 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 is developing or commercializing, while Cytokinetics gained capital which it then used to fund more clinical trials.

Now, Cytokinetics’ new drug is looking to compete directly with Bristol Myers Squibb, given that it targets the same disease.

“[Bristol Myers Squibb] are actually commercializing a medicine that was discovered in our laboratories, and ultimately the subject of a company we formed that they acquired. They’re now selling that, doing a great job. Patients are benefiting from that medicine,” Blum said Tuesday on CNBC’s “Power Lunch.” We’re now in the process of developing a next-generation medicine that will hopefully enter the same space. It’s in front of the FDA for a potential approval later this year.”

Cytokinetics has received funding from specialized biotech financing firms, and uses a mix of royalty financing and partnerships to secure investments for its drug development.

“That journey required us to do a number of things as we invested in research at the moment, and ultimately did some financial engineering in order to support the billions of dollars that we’ve spent advancing a portfolio of potential medicines,” Blum told CNBC. He added that heart disease is the primary reason for hospitalization among Americans, especially an increasing aging demographic.

“Our pipeline, our portfolio of potential medicines directed to those diseases, we’re in a good position to build an enduring business starting with this first potential medicine,” he said.