Verastem Oncology Announces Closing of Duvelisib Sale to Secura Bio
Former TAP Partner
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep. 30, 2020-- Verastem, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSTM) (also known as Verastem Oncology), a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new medicines for patients battling cancer, today announced that it has completed the sale of Verastem's COPIKTRA (duvelisib), a marketed oral inhibitor of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K), and the first FDA-approved dual inhibitor of PI3K-delta and PI3K-gamma, to Secura Bio, Inc.
In consideration for the COPIKTRA assets, Verastem received from Secura Bio $70 million in cash. Additionally, Verastem is eligible to receive up to a total deal value of $311 million if certain regulatory and sales-based milestones are successfully met by Secura Bio and COPIKTRA’s other rest-of-world partners. Verastem will also receive low double-digit royalties on net sales over $100 million in the U.S., Europe and the United Kingdom. Secura Bio has assumed all operational and financial responsibility for COPIKTRA program activities, including commercialization efforts in the United States and Europe, ongoing clinical trials, development and commercialization partnerships and existing royalty obligations.
In November 2018, Verastem Oncology’s duvelisib was selected for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Therapy Acceleration Program® (TAP) which provides additional resources to support the development of therapies for patients with blood cancers. The Company used the funds to conduct certain translational and clinical activities relating to the development of duvelisib for the treatment of PTCL. LLS and Verastem Oncology sharedthe cost of the development program, portions of which will be conducted in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, The Washington University in St. Louis and Stanford University.