Cytokinetics plunges amid no deal announcement as JPMorgan conf set to end

Shidlovski/iStock via Getty Images Cytokinetics ( NASDAQ: CYTK ) plummeted by as much as 20% at least partly as the final day of the JPMorgan Healthcare conference is set to conclude and no deal for the company has been announced. Some investors were expecting a deal announcement as soon as Monday, when the J.P.

Morgan conference started in San Francisco. The conference is often a key catalyst for M&A events in the healthcare space. There was no specific news on Thursday to account for the stock drop. The speculation about a potential deal this week comes after a WSJ report on Monday that Novartis ( NYSE: NVS ) wa s close to a deal to acquire Cytokinetics.

Novartis ( NVS ) CEO Vasant Narasimhan appeared to throw cold water on the prospect for a Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) acquisition after saying in an interview on Tuesday that the company i s focused on bolt on acquisitions. CYTK has a market cap of almost $10 billion. "Our overall M&A strategy is really to focus on sub $5 billion assets," Novartis CEO Vasant Narasimhan said in an interview on CNBC.

"I can't comment on specific deals." "We look at larger deals, which is why I think you see the media coverage, it's always something we do and we have an obligation to do that," Narasimhan added. "What I really want to highlight is that while we look at larger deals, our M&A strategy is bolt ons." A deal may be finalized as soon as this week, according to the WSJ report from Monday.

The potential price and other terms weren't known. Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) is running a sales process and there's a possibility another bidder could reemerge or there may be no deal reached. The Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) sale speculation comes as the company's attractiveness as a takeover target has been enhanced by recently released positive data for its hypertrophic cardiomyopathy drug candidate aficamten, or afi.

Shares of Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) soared 83 % on Dec. 27 in the wake of data. The positive data also came after a report last month that Novartis ( NVS ) and AstraZeneca ( AZN ) may be interested in a takeover amid strong interest as the company explores its options. Bloomberg reported in late October that Cytokinetics ( CYTK ) was exploring options after receiving takeover interest .

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