Verastem partners with Amgen on VS-6766 and Lumakras combo in lung cancer

US cancer specialist Verastem Oncology (Nasdaq: VSTM) saw its shares briefly spike by as much as 29% Monday morning, after announcing a clinical collaboration agreement with biotech major Amgen (Nasdaq: AMGN) to evaluate the combination of VS-6766, Verastem’s investigational dual RAF/MEK inhibitor, with Amgen’s KRAS G12C inhibitor Lumakras (sotorasib) in KRAS G12C-mutant non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

The Phase I/II trial will evaluate the safety, tolerability and efficacy of VS-6766 in combination with Lumakras in patients with KRAS G12C-mutant NSCLC who have not been previously treated with a KRAS G12C inhibitor as well as in patients who have progressed on a KRAS G12C inhibitor. The study will therefore investigate the potential benefits of a more complete vertical blockade of the RAS pathway with the combination of VS-6766 (RAF/MEK blockade) with Lumakras (G12C inhibition) in KRAS G12C-mutant locally advanced or metastatic NSCLC.

“Recent data indicate that acquired resistance to KRAS G12C inhibitors in patients occurs predominantly through additional mutations in the RAS pathway, many of which may be addressed with a downstream inhibitor such as VS-6766,” said Dr Ramaswamy Govindan, Professor, Department of Medicine, Oncology Division at Washington University School of Medicine and lead investigator of the study. “This clinical study of VS-6766 and Lumakras will build on pre-clinical data showing synergy between these two agents, including tumor regression through deeper blockade of ERK pathway signaling.”