Verastem Oncology Inc. CEO Dan Paterson said he is “not expecting a huge bolus [of ovarian cancer patients] at the beginning” of Avmapki/Fakzynja’s launch, but momentum will build over time. “Based on our market research, this [drug] is the most likely thing for them to go on next,” he added, noting that patients tend to be on the drug for an average of 18 months.
Researchers at the University of California San Diego have uncovered a key mechanism underlying the treatment resistance of melanoma with the BRAF V600E mutation through pathways involved in focal adhesion and extracellular matrix (ECM) remodeling. These two processes remodel the tumor cell environment in melanoma through the RAF/MEK cell signaling pathway. However, the combined use of FAK inhibitors with a RAF-MEK clamp overcame this resistance.
With fresh phase II ovarian cancer data in hand, Verastem Oncology Inc. plans to file an NDA by the end of the month for its avutometinib and defactinib combination treatment. The NDA will be for adults who have recurrent KRAS mutant recurrent low-grade serous ovarian cancer, a direction that may have caused the stock to wilt.
As the company began a rolling NDA submission to the U.S. FDA for its drug combo in low-grade serous ovarian cancer, Verastem Oncology Inc. popped the lid off phase I/II data in pancreatic tumors, but Wall Street seemed uncertain about the news. Boston-based Verastem disclosed upbeat outcomes from the Ramp 205 study testing the RAF/MEK clamp avutometinib when paired with focal adhesion kinase inhibitor defactinib in combination with gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel as first-line therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer.
A new horizon may be opening up in low-grade serious ovarian cancer (LGSOC) with the advent of Verastem Oncology Inc.’s therapy pairing two small molecules: avutometinib (VS-6766), a kinase inhibitor that binds to and inhibits the kinase activities of RAF and MEK to block the signal transduction pathways they mediate; and defactinib (VS-6063), an inhibitor of FAK.
Verastem Oncology Inc. and Genfleet Therapeutics Ltd. have inked a discovery and development deal to advance three oncology discovery programs targeting RAS pathway-driven cancers.
