Press release
Verastem Oncology Appoints Frank Neumann, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer
Appointment Reflects Progress of Verastem’s RAS Targeted Therapy Development Program Verastem Recently Initiated Registration-Directed Trials with VS-6766
About this update from Verastem, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":"\nAppointment Reflects Progress of Verastem’s RAS Targeted Therapy Development Program\n\nVerastem Recently Initiated Registration-Directed Trials with VS-6766 and Defactinib in Recurrent Low-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer and KRAS Mutant Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer\n\n BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nVerastem, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSTM) (also known as Verastem Oncology), a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new medicines for patients battling cancer, today announced the appointment of industry veteran Frank Neumann, M.D., Ph.D., as Chief Medical Officer to oversee the Company’s clinical and regulatory strategy and Medical Affairs team.\n\n“Frank brings deep expertise across the full spectrum of clinical and regulatory activities in all stages of Oncology drug development,” said Brian Stuglik, Chief Executive Officer of Verastem Oncology. “His strong industry experience and commitment to urgently addressing the high unmet needs of patients will be critical to delivering novel treatments and establishing the backbone of RAS targeted therapy as we move forward with our registration-directed trials of VS-6766 and defactinib.”\n\n“I am thrilled to be joining Verastem at this time given the encouraging results to date of VS-6766 and defactinib for patients with difficult-to-treat KRAS mutant tumors and the possibility to address limitations seen with other therapeutic approaches,” said Dr. Neumann. “The broad potential of these development programs and the opportunity to further establish Verastem’s scientific and medical leadership is truly energizing.”\n\nDr. Neumann joins Verastem from bluebird bio where he served as VP, Head of Oncology Clinical Research, Clinical Research Development. In this role, he was responsible for planning and execution of oncology research asset strategies from pre-clinical to Investigational New Drug Application (IND) submissions, across both solid tumor and hematological indications. He has also held various leadership roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, including global clinical lead for ICLUSIG® (ponatinib) and medical team lead for NINLARO® (ixazomib). He served as clinical development head for all of Takeda’s cell therapy approaches globally from POC to Phase 1 and was also responsible for various U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency (EMA) interactions for Takeda’s progra...