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. 

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.