Cytokinetics slips after Novartis CEO says M&A focus on ‘bolt ons’

Shares of Cytokinetics (CYTK) have dropped during midday trading after Novartis’ (NVS) CEO Vasant Narasimhan was asked by CNBC’s Jim Cramer to comment if the company was interested in buying Cytokinetics, as had been reported yesterday afternoon by The Wall Street Journal. Narasimhan declined to comment on any specific potential deals, but said the company is focused on bolt-on acquisitions. “Our overall M&A strategy… is really to focus on sub $5 billion assets… Now we look at larger deals, which is why I think you see the media coverage, it’s always something that we do and we have an obligation to do that, but what I really want to highlight is that while we look at larger deals, our M&A strategy is bolt ons,” Novartis’ CEO said during the earlier interview on CNBC. A bit after noon in New York, Cytokinetics shares are down $9.84, or 9%, to $98.22.