Press release
Verastem Oncology Announces Global Licensing Agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. to Develop and Commercialize RAF/MEK Inhibitor CH5126766
Combination of Defactinib and CH5126766 Shows Promise in Treating KRAS Mutant Solid Tumors in Clinical Trial Clinical Data Presentation and Regulatory
About this update from Verastem, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nCombination of Defactinib and CH5126766 Shows Promise in Treating KRAS Mutant Solid Tumors in Clinical Trial\n\n\nClinical Data Presentation and Regulatory Discussions Planned for 1H 2020\n\n BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\n\nVerastem, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSTM) (Verastem Oncology or the Company), a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing and commercializing medicines seeking to improve the survival and quality of life of cancer patients, today announced a global licensing agreement with Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., (Chugai) whereby Verastem Oncology is obtaining worldwide development and commercialization rights to the RAF/MEK inhibitor CH5126766 (CKI27) from Chugai currently under development for the treatment of KRAS mutant solid tumors. The Company will host an investor call to discuss the opportunity and a development update today (details below).\n\n\nCH5126766 in combination with Verastem Oncology’s focal adhesion kinase (FAK) inhibitor, defactinib, is currently the subject of a clinical study (Phase I followed by expansion cohorts) with the expansion cohorts now ongoing in patients with KRAS mutant advanced solid tumors, including low grade serous ovarian cancer (LGSOC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer (CRC).1 This clinical study of the defactinib/CH5126766 combination is supported by the single-agent Phase 2 studies of defactinib in KRAS mutant NSCLC2 and CH5126766 in KRAS mutant NSCLC and LGSOC.3\n\n\n“Based on the single-agent defactinib results in KRAS mutant NSCLC, we conducted an internal pre-clinical effort to identify drug classes that were synergistic with defactinib and saw the highest level of synergy in combination with MEK inhibitors and, specifically, with CH5126766,” said Dan Paterson, President and Chief Operating Officer of Verastem Oncology. “The exciting early clinical results led to our decision to enter into a partnership with Chugai for CH5126766 and accelerate the combination development program for patients with KRAS mutant cancers, which are highly aggressive and recurrent. We plan to initiate discussions with regulatory authorities about our development plans and to define the registration path early this year.”\n\n\n“We found that MEK blockade activates FAK signaling as a potential escape mechanism,” stated Professor Udai Banerji, Professor of Molecular Cancer Pharmaco...