Verastem’s early KRAS drug results draw bold CEO claim

Verastem Oncology reported early Phase 1/2 results for VS-7375, its KRAS G12D inhibitor, in patients with advanced cancers. CEO Dan Paterson described the pancreatic-cancer results as setting “a new benchmark” and called the drug a potential blockbuster.

In metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 22 evaluable patients given 900 mg daily had a 41% response rate in the second-line-or-later group, including two complete responses. Among the eight patients treated in the second-line setting, half responded. Six-month progression-free survival was 67% and overall survival was 80% in the 22-patient cohort.

For non-small cell lung cancer, 23 patients receiving 600 mg daily had a confirmed response rate of 43% at a median follow-up of 4.4 months; six-month progression-free survival was 72%. The study also reported a 33% response rate in colorectal cancer patients.

The results are promising but preliminary:
they come from a small, early-stage study and do not establish that VS-7375 improves survival or will benefit patients in larger trials. Verastem plans to advance the drug into Phase 3 testing, including in pancreatic cancer.