Foresite’s Cytokinetics Gamble: A Tale of Greed and Trials

What happened

Foresite Capital, that gluttonous gobbler of equities, had a peculiar craving for Cytokinetics (CYTK) shares. By Sept. 30, 2025, it had swallowed 458,295 of them, worth $25.19 million, as if licking a particularly expensive lollipop. This was detailed in a quarterly report filed with the SEC on Nov. 14, 2025-just in time for the fund’s total U.S. equity assets to balloon to $182.61 million across six holdings. A tidy sum, one might say, for a fund that seems to believe it’s playing chess with the market while everyone else is still learning checkers.

What else to know

This was Foresite’s first new position in a while, though it accounted for 13.8% of its reportable assets. A bold move, like a squirrel hoarding acorns in a hurricane.
Top holdings post-filing:
- NASDAQ: PHVS: $119.23 million (70.3% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: CYTK: $25.19 million (14.9% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: MAZE: $13.55 million (8.0% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: LYEL: $12.99 million (7.1% of AUM)
- NASDAQ: XENE: $6.42 million (3.8% of AUM)
By Nov. 14, 2025, CYTK shares were trading at $66.44, having leaped 21.5% over the past year. A sprightly jump, though one wonders if the S&P 500 was merely tripping over its own shoelaces in awe.

Company overview

Metric	Value
Market capitalization	$7.90 billion
Price (as of market close 2025-11-14)	$66.44
Revenue (TTM)	$87.21 million
Net income (TTM)	($751.94 million)

Company snapshot

Cytokinetics, that mad alchemist of muscle, brews small-molecule potions for cardiac and skeletal maladies. Its labs hum with the promise of late-stage trials, though one suspects the beakers occasionally bubble with desperation.
Their business model? A curious blend of R&D and partnerships, like a jester selling tickets to a circus that hasn’t built the tent yet. Revenue trickles in from licensing deals and the occasional handshake with Big Pharma.
They target hospitals and clinics where patients wheeze through heart failure or stare down amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. A noble quest, if one ignores the $752 million black hole in their net income.

Cytokinetics, Incorporated is a biopharma company that treats muscle biology like a dark art. Its pipeline gleams with potential, though one wonders if the FDA will grant its application for aficamten-or simply wave a bureaucratic broom and say, “Not today, dear inventor.” Strategic alliances and a focused R&D approach keep the ship afloat, though the waters are choppy and the horizon is foggy.

Foolish take

Foresite’s third-quarter bet on Cytokinetics was a grand slam, or perhaps a cannonball into a pool of uncertainty. It was the fund’s only new position, and by September’s end, it had become the second-largest holding at $25.2 million. A sum so vast it could buy a small island-or, as history shows, drown in debt trying to build a bridge to it.

The fund also added 368,000 shares to its Pharvaris position, now worth $119 million. A curious choice, like betting on a donkey to win the Kentucky Derby because it has a nice coat.

Cytokinetics now awaits the FDA’s verdict on aficamten for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. In September, they met with regulators for a “risk evaluation and mitigation strategy program”-a fancy way of saying, “We’ve thought about how to not blow this up.” In May, they announced success in a pivotal trial, where patients showed improved oxygen uptake. A triumph, perhaps, but one must wonder if the FDA’s approval will arrive with a smile-or a frown and a box of matches.

Glossary

Assets under management (AUM): The total value of investments managed by a fund, like a treasure chest that forgets to lock itself.

13F reportable assets: Equity holdings that funds must report to the SEC, as if confessing their sins to a very unamused priest.

Position: The amount of a security held by a fund, akin to a pirate’s stash of doubloons.

Net position change: The difference in a holding’s value after a transaction, like a seesaw that refuses to balance.

Stake: Ownership interest in a company, often held like a life raft in a storm.

Biotechnology business model: A strategy involving research, partnerships, and licensing, much like a juggling act with flaming torches.

Late-stage clinical trials: Advanced drug testing, a dance with regulatory dragons.

Strategic partnerships: Collaborations between companies, often more cordial than a family reunion.

Licensing: Granting rights to use intellectual property, like lending a recipe to a chef who might burn the kitchen down.

Pipeline: A company’s portfolio of drug candidates, a garden of hope and half-baked ideas.

Proprietary expertise: Specialized knowledge a company claims to own, like a secret sauce that might taste like regret.

TTM: The 12-month period ending with a quarterly report, a snapshot of chaos dressed up in numbers.

And so, the tale continues. Foresite’s gamble on Cytokinetics is a story of ambition and risk, written in the ink of shareholder hopes and regulatory whims. Whether it ends with a standing ovation or a burial shroud remains to be seen. 🦴

2025-12-08 22:01