Updates dateline, adds executive comment in paragraph 8

Jan 13 (Reuters) - Novartis NOVN.S will continue to do bolt-on deals and its capital allocation priorities remain unchanged, CEO Vasant Narasimhan said at a major industry conference that kicked off on Monday in San Francisco.

"We are always looking for opportunities that fit our core therapeutic areas," Narasimhan said at the J.P. Morgan healthcare conference. "We want to do deals that make sense, and we have the capital to be able to do that."

The company is focusing on strategic therapeutic areas such as oncology, immunology, neuroscience, and cardiovascular and renal medicine.

Novartis has been proactively striking deals to address the impending patent cliff for some of its blockbuster drugs, including Entresto for heart failure, Xolair for asthma and Cosentyx for autoimmune diseases.

Last year, Novartis agreed to acquire U.S. biotech firm Avidity Biosciences for about $12 billion in cash, as it looks to bolster its portfolio of treatments for rare muscle disorders.

The company also acquired Regulus Therapeutics RGLS.O for up to $1.7 billion, giving the Swiss drugmaker access to an experimental drug to treat a life-threatening kidney disease.

"Going forward, the core principles remain the same, which is the four therapeutic areas that we have an interest in, where we look for bolt on external innovation that creates value will remain," Shreeram Aradhye, president, development and chief medical officer, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the conference.

The company's momentum for deal making will remain, he added.

Aradhye also said the company will have significant focus on oncology and would look for additional opportunities in radioligand therapies.

(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru and Maggie Fick in San Francisco; Editing by Leroy Leo)

((Sneha.SK@thomsonreuters.com;))