BioCentury
ARTICLE | Finance

Verastem very aggressive

Westphal's preclinical cancer play Verastem files for $50M IPO

November 7, 2011 8:00 AM UTC

Verastem Inc. is looking to be the first U.S.-based preclinical therapeutics company to go public in the last four years. The cancer stem cell company filed last week to raise up to $50 million in an IPO.

Chairman and CEO Christoph Westphal has taken early stage assets to the public markets before. He was CEO of Sirtris Pharmaceuticals Inc. when it raised $60 million in a 2007 IPO that valued the company at $278 million. At the time, Sirtris' lead candidate was in Phase Ib testing for Type II diabetes...