Verastem sinks after release of defactinib data

Verastem Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) fell $1.70 (26%) to $4.91 on Wednesday after an abstract was released in advance of the World Conference on Lung Cancer describing a Phase II trial of defactinib ( VS-6063) to treat non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in patients with K-Ras ( KRAS) mutations.

The abstract said two patients in the study died due to respiratory failure. According to Verastem, both patients had advanced disease, received multiple concomitant medications and had multiple co-morbidities. Adverse events that the abstract said were "at least possibly related" to treatment occurred in 35 patients, including 11 with grade 3-5 adverse events. ...