When Infinity put up duvelisib for a no-money-down instant deal, the biotech was looking for a quick exit from a clinical disaster. AbbVie had walked away from their alliance after looking at how the data stacked up in a crowded field.

And while it was approvable, it wasnt looking pretty to anyone who thought in commercial terms.

One Big Pharmas trash, though, was seen as a biotech treasure as a deeply troubled Verastem stepped up to grab the PI3K-delta/gamma promising to run it across the goal lines at the FDA. And they did just that, only with little to show for it.

Now, after racking up just $12 million in product sales last year, its Verastems turn to walk away only they get $70 million in cash for the underperforming cancer therapeutic, with a chance to add $200 million-plus if the new owner can make a success of it.

Secura Bio now counts itself as the owner of the drug, sold as Copiktra. And Secura will add up to $45 million in milestones if the drug is approved in the US and Europe for peripheral T-cell lymphoma. Theres $50 million if Secura can push sales over the $100 million annual sales level, which also comes with low double-digit royalties over that $100 million mark.

Verastem now wants to create a string of catalysts to whet investors interest in its RAF/MEK inhibitor VS-6766 for low grade ovarian cancer and a FAK inhibitor defactinib program in KRAS mutant tumors. Investigators are focused on KRAS G12V, part of a busy field after Amgen opened up things with positive data for NSCLC. Registration-directed Phase II trials get underway before the end of this year.

Verastem lost about $149 million last year, as it took its total burn past the half-billion dollar mark. Brian Stuglik, an Eli Lilly vet, jumped on as CEO a year ago, replacing Robert Forrester. Now Stugliks team is betting that this time theyre going to get it right. Or at least as good as it gets.

Read the original here:
The duvelisib hot potato is tossed to a new owner as Verastem looks to reorganize around the pipeline - Endpoints News