Verastem Oncology announced on June 18 that it will deprioritize its investigational drug combination for metastatic pancreatic cancer following Phase 1b/2a study results. The company reported that the regimen, which combines the MEK kinase inhibitor Avmapki (avutometinib) and FAK inhibitor Fakzynja (defactinib) with gemcitabine and nab-paclitaxel, achieved a treatment response in more than half of patients.
The study showed an objective response rate of 52% and a progression-free survival rate of 68% at six months. Overall survival was reported as 86%, but this data was considered immature at the time of analysis. These findings place Verastem's combination slightly behind Revolution Medicines' daraxonrasib, which recently demonstrated nearly double overall survival compared to chemotherapy and an objective response rate of 58% in similar patient populations.
Analysts at Mizuho Securities said in a note that Verastem’s results are “decent, but not great,” especially given the competitive landscape shaped by Revolution Medicines’ performance. They also noted there have been no direct head-to-head studies between daraxonrasib and avutometinib plus defactinib, making cross-trial comparisons inconclusive. However, Mizuho said Verastem’s regimen landed “encouragingly in the ballpark” of Revolution’s drug.
Despite these results, Mizuho said Verastem has decided to stop investing resources into this particular drug combination for pancreatic cancer after discussions with company leadership. In a prepared statement, Verastem CEO Dan Paterson said, “We will continue to evaluate the potential role of avutometinib plus defactinib in metastatic pancreatic cancer, including future development opportunities and potential strategic collaborations.”
Looking ahead, Verastem plans to focus on VS-7375, an investigational KRAS G12D inhibitor currently in mid-stage development for KRAS G12D-mutated solid tumors such as colorectal cancer and non-small cell lung cancer.
