CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Tuesday, May 13th 2014 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS
WIRE) Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM), focused on discovering and
developing drugs to treat cancer by the targeted killing of cancer stem
cells, today announced the appointment of Paul A. Friedman, M.D. to its
Board of Directors.
“We are delighted to welcome Paul to the Verastem
Board of Directors,” said Christoph Westphal, M.D., Ph.D., Verastem
Executive Chairman. “Paul has significant development and
commercialization expertise gained from leading Incyte and DuPont in the
development and commercialization of many successful products. We
believe his contributions will be invaluable as we strive to improve
cancer care and enable a more durable clinical response for patients.”
“Verastem’s
approach of targeting cancer stem cells holds significant promise for
the oncology field,” said Dr. Friedman. “I look forward to working
alongside the Board and management team to help Verastem navigate
clinical development of its lead assets and create long term value for
shareholders.”
Dr. Friedman was the Chief Executive Officer of Incyte
Corporation from November 2001 until his retirement in January 2014 and
oversaw the development and commercialization of Jakafi®. Dr. Friedman
joined Incyte from DuPont Pharmaceuticals Research Laboratories where he
served as President. Previously, he served as President of Research and
Development of The DuPont Merck Pharmaceutical Company, and Senior Vice
President at Merck Research Laboratories. During his career, Dr.
Friedman was involved in the discovery and/or development of a number of
successful pharmaceutical products, including Jakafi®, Aggrastat®,
Trusopt®, Crixivan®, Sustiva®, Pedvax®, Pneumovax®, Vaqta®, Varivax®
Cozaar®/Hyzaar® and Fosamax®. Dr. Friedman earned his M.D. from Harvard
Medical School where he subsequently became an Associate Professor of
Medicine and Pharmacology and was a practicing physician at New
York-Presbyterian Hospital, College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr.
Friedman serves on the Board of Directors at Incyte (INCY), Synta
Pharmaceuticals Corp. (SNTA), Durata Therapeutics, Inc. (DRTX),
Auxilium, Inc. (AUXL), Cerulean Pharma, Inc. (CERU) and Gliknik, Inc.
Dr. Friedman currently serves as a diplomat of the American Board of
Internal Medicine and a Member of the American Society of Clinical
Investigation. He has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific
publications.
“Paul’s leadership and strategic expertise will be
vital as we progress our compounds through late stage clinical
development and prepare for upcoming clinical and regulatory
milestones,” said Robert Forrester, Verastem President and Chief
Executive Officer. “We want to change the way cancer is treated and
welcome Paul to our team dedicated to achieving this mission.”
About Verastem, Inc.
Verastem,
Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) is discovering and developing drugs to treat cancer
by the targeted killing of cancer stem cells. Cancer stem cells are an
underlying cause of tumor recurrence and metastasis. Verastem is
developing small molecule inhibitors of signaling pathways that are
critical to cancer stem cell survival and proliferation: FAK, PI3K/mTOR
and Wnt. For more information, please visit www.verastem.com.
Forward-looking statements:
This
press release includes forward-looking statements about the Company’s
strategy, future plans and prospects, including statements regarding the
development of the Company’s compounds, the timeline for clinical
development and regulatory approval of the Company’s compounds, the
expected timing for the reporting of data from ongoing trials, and the
structure of the Company’s planned or pending clinical trials, and
potential indications for clinical development. The words “anticipate,”
“appear,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,”
“predict,” “project,” “target,” “potential,” “will,” “would,” “could,”
“should,” “continue,” and similar expressions are intended to identify
forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements
contain these identifying words. Each forward-looking statement is
subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statement.
Applicable risks and uncertainties include the risks that the
preclinical testing of the Company’s compounds and preliminary data from
clinical trials may not be predictive of the results or success of
ongoing or later clinical trials, that data may not be available when we
expect it to be, that the Company will be unable to successfully
complete the clinical development of its compounds, that the development
of the Company’s compounds will take longer or cost more than planned,
and that the Company’s compounds will not receive regulatory approval or
become commercially successful products. Other risks and uncertainties
include those identified under the heading “Risk Factors” in the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31,
2013 and in any subsequent SEC filings. The forward-looking statements
contained in this presentation reflect the Company’s current views with
respect to future events, and the Company does not undertake and
specifically disclaims any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
Contacts
Verastem, Inc.
Brian Sullivan, 617-252-9314
bsullivan@verastem.com
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