Verastem sells rights to Copiktra

10 August 2020

Investors initially reacted positively to Verastem’s (Nasdaq: VSTM) proposed licensing deal for Copiktra (duvelisib), sending the US biotech firm’s shares up 6.4% to $1.58, but soon lost interest, leaving the stock hardly changed by late morning.

Verastem has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its global commercial and development rights to Copiktra, its marketed oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and the first Food and Drug Administration-approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, to Secura Bio, an integrated biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the worldwide commercialization of significant oncology therapies.

The sales follows Verastem’s previously-announced strategic direction to focus on maximizing the broad potential of its RAF/MEK inhibitor (VS-6766) and FAK inhibitor (defactinib) program in KRAS mutant (KRASmt) solid tumors.

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