Shares of Cytokinetics, Inc. (NASDAQ:CYTK) are trading sharply higher Tuesday after the biopharmaceutical company presented new data highlighting the long-term safety and efficacy of its investigational drug, aficamten, at the European Society of Cardiology Congress 2025. Here’s what investors need to know.
What To Know: The company announced several key findings from multiple clinical trials for the cardiac myosin inhibitor, which is being developed to treat hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease that causes thickening of the heart muscle.
An analysis from the MAPLE-HCM trial showed aficamten was superior to the current standard-of-care, metoprolol, at improving cardiac structure and function in patients with the obstructive form of HCM. These results were simultaneously published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
New data suggested long-term treatment does not appear to increase the risk of atrial fibrillation. An analysis presented at the conference showed an annual new-onset AF incidence rate of 1.5% with aficamten, which is consistent with expected rates in predictive models for patients with HCM.
An integrated safety analysis of 463 participants across multiple trials found aficamten was well-tolerated with an adverse event profile similar to placebo. Aficamten is currently under regulatory review in the U.S., with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act target action date of December 26.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, CYTK shares are trading higher by 35.42% to $47.85 Tuesday morning. The stock has a 52-week high of $59.39 and a 52-week low of $29.31.
How To Buy CYTK Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Cytokinetics – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.
Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy “fractional shares,” which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share.
If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to “go short” a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.
