Verastem Slashes Staff After Mesothelioma Failure
This article was originally published in Scrip
Executive Summary
Verastem Inc. is slashing its head count by 50%, or 20 employees, as the company continues to regroup after lead drug candidate VS-6063 failed to show an efficacy benefit for mesothelioma patients at an interim analysis in a Phase II clinical trial.
You may also be interested in...
Verastem Sees Phase III Success With PIK3 Inhibitor Dropped By AbbVie
Duvelisib, licensed from Infinity in 2016, reduces risk of disease progression or death compared to Arzerra in a Phase III study in refractory CLL/SLL. Verastem hopes to file an NDA during the first half of 2018.
Finance Watch: Pfizer Adds $3.5bn To Cash Stockpile, Reduces Stake In Haleon
Public Company Edition: Pfizer’s stake in Haleon dropped from 32% to 22.6% with a massive sale of shares of the GSK consumer health spinout. Also, Galderma prices its Swiss IPO, Madrigal grosses $600m in a post-approval offering and bluebird secured up to $175m in debt.
Finance Watch: Another Bevy Of VC Mega-Rounds, Including $175m For Capstan
Private Company Edition: Capstan and Engrail raised $175m and $157m, respectively, in series B venture capital rounds in addition to Madrigal’s $400m-plus launch and Clasp’s $150m series A.