Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM)

Verastem, Inc., operating as Verastem Oncology, is a biopharmaceutical company focusing on developing and commercializing medicines to improve the survival and quality of life of cancer patients. It markets COPIKTRA™ (duvelisib), an oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) and dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, which is indicated for the treatment of adult patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma after at least two prior therapies and relapsed or refractory follicular lymphoma (FL) after at least two prior systemic therapies. The indication in FL is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate. In addition, it is developing the focal adhesion kinase inhibitor defactinib, which is being evaluated in three separate clinical collaborations in combination with immunotherapeutic agents for the treatment of various different cancer types, including pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), and mesothelioma. Verastem, Inc. has collaboration agreements with Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd., CSPS Pharmaceutical Group Limited and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The company was founded by Richard H. Aldrich, Michelle Dipp, Piyush Gupta, Satish Jindal, Eric S. Lander, Robert F. Weinberg, and Christoph H. Westphal on August 4, 2010 and is headquartered in Needham, MA.