Verastem Management
Management criteria checks 4/4
Verastem's CEO is Dan Paterson, appointed in Jun 2019, has a tenure of 6.92 years. total yearly compensation is $2.40M, comprised of 28.1% salary and 71.9% bonuses, including company stock and options. directly owns 0.26% of the company’s shares, worth $1.37M. The average tenure of the management team and the board of directors is 2.5 years and 4.7 years respectively.
Key information
Dan Paterson
Chief executive officer
US$2.4m
Total compensation
| CEO salary percentage | 28.08% |
| CEO tenure | 6.9yrs |
| CEO ownership | 0.3% |
| Management average tenure | 2.5yrs |
| Board average tenure | 4.7yrs |
Recent management updates
Recent updates
New Narrative • Jan 22
RAS And MAPK Cancer Pipeline Will Drive Long Term Upside Potential
Catalysts About Verastem Verastem is an oncology company focused on therapies for RAS and MAPK pathway driven cancers, including KRAS mutated recurrent low grade serous ovarian cancer. What are the underlying business or industry changes driving this perspective?Analysis Article • Dec 26
Verastem, Inc.'s (NASDAQ:VSTM) Share Price Is Still Matching Investor Opinion Despite 26% Slump
Verastem, Inc. ( NASDAQ:VSTM ) shareholders won't be pleased to see that the share price has had a very rough month...Seeking Alpha • Jul 16
Verastem: The Market Is Ignoring The Progress
Summary FDA approval of AVMAPKI FAKZYNJA CO-PACK marks a transformative milestone, positioning Verastem as a commercial-stage leader in KRAS-mutant LGSOC treatment. Verastem's strong cash position and promising pipeline, including VS-7375 for KRAS G12D, offer significant upside with multiple near-term catalysts ahead. Risks include slow commercial uptake, pipeline uncertainty, and potential future dilution, but current valuation under $5 presents an attractive entry point. I maintain a 3/5 conviction, plan to add to my position below $5.75, and aim to hold long-term as VSTM targets KRAS-driven cancers. Read the full article on Seeking AlphaSeeking Alpha • May 26
Verastem: Narrowed Market And Less Compelling Efficacy Warrant Rating Downgrade
Summary Verastem's stock plummeted after updates showed reduced efficacy in cancer treatment trials, causing a reassessment of strategy. Updated clinical trial results show a significant drop in response rates, suggesting less robust efficacy than earlier believed. Financially, Verastem has only a year of cash runway and faces significant dilution risks to extend it. Downgrade the recommendation to 'hold' due to increased risks and market volatility associated with microcap stocks. Read the full article on Seeking AlphaSeeking Alpha • Sep 13
Verastem: Moving Forward
Summary Today, we circle back on a small oncology outfit called Verastem, Inc. The company is steadily advancing its pipeline targeting both LGSOC and NSCLC and Verastem secured funding this year to carry out its multiple trials. An investment analysis follows in the paragraphs below. Don't waste your time with explanations: people only hear what they want to hear. ― Paulo Coelho We haven't taken a look at Verastem, Inc. (NASDAQ:VSTM) since an article on this small biotech name early last year. There has been some news flow around the company since then and Verastem recently posted a new investor presentation, so it seems a good time to circle back on this story. Seeking Alpha Company Overview Verastem is based out of Massachusetts. The company developed 'Copiktra' which received FDA approval for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)/small lymphocytic lymphoma (SLL)/follicular lymphoma in the summer of 2018. The company soon after sold the global rights to this compound for a significant upfront payment. It continues to collect royalties and milestone payments from this arrangement. August Company Presentation The company is currently focused on establishing its candidate 'VS-6766' as the backbone therapy for RAS-driven solid tumors. This is how management describes VS-6766 on its last earnings press release. August Company Presentation VS-6766 is a RAF/MEK clamp that induces inactive complexes of MEK with ARAF, BRAF and CRAF potentially creating a more complete and durable anti-tumor response through maximal RAS pathway inhibition. In contrast to other MEK inhibitors, VS-6766 blocks both MEK kinase activity and the ability of RAF to phosphorylate MEK. This unique mechanism allows VS-6766 to block MEK signaling without the compensatory activation of MEK that appears to limit the efficacy of other inhibitors. August Company Presentation There is a high unmet need in the cancers VS-6766 is targeting in development. The stock currently trades around $1.25 a share and sports an approximate market capitalization of $230 million. August Company Presentation Developmental Progress August Company Presentation As can be seen above, VS-6766 is in numerous combination therapy trials and as a monotherapy focused on Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Gynecologic Oncology. Most of these studies pair VS-6766 with another Verastem pipeline asset Defactinib, a FAK inhibitor. The most critical of these are RAMP 201 and RAMP 202. Both are registration-directed phase 2 studies and were initiated in the fourth quarter of 2020. RAMP 201 is targeting low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma or LGSOC and RAMP 2022 is targeting NSCLC. August Company Presentation Both studies should see top line results out in 2023. In mid-June, interim results came out from the RAMP 201 trial that showed VS-6766 as both a standalone therapy and in combination with defactinib showed encouraging efficacy with confirmed responses in patients with recurrent LGSOC, regardless of KRAS mutation. August Company Presentation The company is also conducting a trial called RAMP 203 in conjunction with Amgen (AMGN). This phase 1/2 with evaluate the 'tolerability and efficacy of VS-6766 in combination with Lumakras in patients with KRAS G12C-mutant NSCLC who have not been previously treated with a KRAS G12C inhibitor as well as in patients who have progressed on a KRAS G12C inhibitor.'Analysis Article • Sep 01
Health Check: How Prudently Does Verastem (NASDAQ:VSTM) Use Debt?
Howard Marks put it nicely when he said that, rather than worrying about share price volatility, 'The possibility of...Seeking Alpha • Aug 08
Verastem Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.11 in-line
Verastem press release (NASDAQ:VSTM): Q2 Non-GAAP EPS of -$0.11 in-line. Verastem Oncology ended the second quarter 2022 with cash, cash equivalents and investments of $94.3 million. With proceeds available upon achievement of certain milestones from the Oxford Finance LLC credit facility and expected milestones and royalties from the sale of COPIKTRA, Verastem Oncology expects that it has a cash runway until at least 2025 to deliver on the current programs for VS-6766 and defactinib, including expenditures and development in LGSOC and KRAS mutant NSCLC. Shares +2.52% PM.Seeking Alpha • Jun 29
Verastem: Looking Increasingly Attractive
Verastem's RAF/MEK/FAK inhibitor program is progressing nicely. They are releasing decent data with no sudden surprises. They have strengthened their cash position non-dilutively. Verastem’s (VSTM) strategy is to buy big pharma cast-offs on the cheap, and then run them through the clinical and regulatory process. This lets them skip the discovery process altogether, sometimes even the earlier stage trials. There’s no harm in the strategy, except that it hasn’t been so successful with duvelisib. That asset didn’t sell well, and was sold off for $70mn. With that fund, they purchased two more assets - RAF/MEK dual inhibitor VS-6766 from Chugai and Defactinib, an FAK inhibitor. As I said before: VS-6766 has unique properties. Not only does it block MEK activity, but it also stops RAF from phosphorylating MEK. Thus, VS-6766 is able to block MEK signaling while avoiding compensatory activation of MEK which limits the efficacy of just MEK inhibitors. Last year, the company began two registration-directed phase 2 studies in LGSOC and NSCLC, respectively, where LGSOC is low-grade serous ovarian carcinoma and NSCLC is non-small cell lung cancer. These trials pit VS-6766 versus VS-6766 + Defactinib in these two cancers with or without KRAS mutation for the recurrent low grade LGSOC trial, and Recurrent G12V or Other KRAS-Mutant NSCLC, respectively. Both trials will topline in 2023. One important point noted in earlier trials is that VS-6766 inhibits MEK phosphorylation, unlike other RAF/MEK inhibitors; this is good because MEK phosphorylation may cause unwanted cellular processes. For example, “Lee et al (91) showed that the rates of MEK phosphorylation in colon cancer, villous adenoma and tubular adenoma were 76, 40 and 30%, respectively, while the phosphorylation of MEK in normal colonic mucosal cells was barely detectable.” This tells us that MEK phosphorylation may be responsible for tumorigenesis, tumor cell survival and proliferation. Another datapoint is interim data from the FRAME study published last year in patients with low-grade serous ovarian cancer ((LGSOC)). An ORR of 56% was observed in this analysis so far, in patients with KRAS-G12 mutant LGSOC, and a 41% ORR in the overall LGSOC population. Updated data presented at ESMO last year showed the following: Among the evaluable patients with LGSOC (n=24), the overall response rate (ORR) was 46% (11 of 24). Among the patients with KRAS mutant LGSOC (n=11) and KRAS wild type LGSOC (n=9), the ORR was 64% (7 of 11) and 44% (4 of 9), respectively. The median progression-free survival (mPFS) across all patients was 23.0 months (95% CI: 10.6- not reached). This high ORR in KRAS-mutant cancer proves the clinical thesis behind the molecule to a large degree. They also beat historical ORR standards by a very large margin. Even with MEK inhibitors, data was poor: The initial phase II trial examined selumetinib in recurrent LGSOC.19 The objective response rate ((ORR)) was 15%, with 65% of patients having stable disease, and median progression-free survival ((PFS)) was 11.0 months. DNA from 34 patients was analyzed for KRAS and BRAF mutations. There were two BRAF mutations (6%) and 14 KRAS mutations (41%); however, no correlation between response and mutational status was found. Another dataset from the MILO trial comparing binimetinib with physician’s choice of chemotherapy ((PCC)): In the MILO trial, the ORR by BICR was 16% for binimetinib and 13% for PCC; however, in the updated analysis, the ORR by local investigator assessment was 24% in both groups. In GOG 0281, the ORRs were 26% and 6.2% for trametinib and PCC, respectively. Both selumetinib and binimetinib are MEK inhibitors, whereas VS-6766 is a dual MEK/RAF inhibitor.CEO Compensation Analysis
| Date | Total Compensation | Salary | Company Earnings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31 2025 | US$2m | US$674k | -US$209m |
| Sep 30 2025 | n/a | n/a | -US$241m |
| Jun 30 2025 | n/a | n/a | -US$167m |
| Mar 31 2025 | n/a | n/a | -US$149m |
| Dec 31 2024 | US$3m | US$648k | -US$131m |
| Sep 30 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$93m |
| Jun 30 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$89m |
| Mar 31 2024 | n/a | n/a | -US$106m |
| Dec 31 2023 | US$4m | US$545k | -US$87m |
| Sep 30 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$77m |
| Jun 30 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$75m |
| Mar 31 2023 | n/a | n/a | -US$73m |
| Dec 31 2022 | US$698k | US$470k | -US$74m |
| Sep 30 2022 | n/a | n/a | -US$73m |
| Jun 30 2022 | n/a | n/a | -US$78m |
| Mar 31 2022 | n/a | n/a | -US$73m |
| Dec 31 2021 | US$2m | US$460k | -US$71m |
| Sep 30 2021 | n/a | n/a | -US$75m |
| Jun 30 2021 | n/a | n/a | -US$39m |
| Mar 31 2021 | n/a | n/a | -US$45m |
| Dec 31 2020 | US$2m | US$467k | -US$68m |
| Sep 30 2020 | n/a | n/a | -US$87m |
| Jun 30 2020 | n/a | n/a | -US$130m |
| Mar 31 2020 | n/a | n/a | -US$149m |
| Dec 31 2019 | US$2m | US$445k | -US$149m |
Compensation vs Market: Dan's total compensation ($USD2.40M) is about average for companies of similar size in the US market ($USD2.52M).
Compensation vs Earnings: Dan's compensation has been consistent with company performance over the past year.
CEO
Dan Paterson (64 yo)
6.9yrs
Tenure
US$2,400,525
Compensation
Mr. Daniel W. Paterson, also known as Dan, serves as Chief Executive Officer Verastem, Inc. since August 1, 2023 and is its President of Verastem, Inc. since June 2019. He is Director of Verastem, Inc. sin...
Leadership Team
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 6.9yrs | US$2.40m | 0.26% $ 1.4m | |
| Chief Financial Officer | 3.6yrs | US$976.87k | 0.060% $ 318.3k | |
| President of Development & Director | less than a year | US$1.21m | 0.017% $ 91.0k | |
| Co-Founder & Chair of Scientific Advisory Board | no data | no data | no data | |
| Co-Founder | no data | no data | no data | |
| Chief Scientific Officer | 10.1yrs | US$319.51k | no data | |
| Vice President of Corporate Communications & Investor Relations | no data | no data | no data | |
| Senior VP of Legal & Chief Compliance Officer | less than a year | no data | no data | |
| Chief Organizational Effectiveness Officer | no data | no data | no data | |
| Chief Business Officer | 2.3yrs | no data | no data | |
| Chief Commercial Officer | 2.6yrs | no data | no data | |
| Global Head of Regulatory Affairs & Development | 2.3yrs | no data | no data |
2.5yrs
Average Tenure
62yo
Average Age
Experienced Management: VSTM's management team is considered experienced (2.5 years average tenure).
Board Members
| Name | Position | Tenure | Compensation | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| President | 2.8yrs | US$2.40m | 0.26% $ 1.4m | |
| President of Development & Director | 13.5yrs | US$1.21m | 0.017% $ 91.0k | |
| Co-Founder & Chair of Scientific Advisory Board | no data | no data | no data | |
| Member of Scientific Advisory Board | no data | no data | no data | |
| Independent Director | 4.9yrs | US$192.99k | 0.017% $ 87.6k | |
| Independent Director | 9yrs | US$214.99k | 0.015% $ 79.3k | |
| Independent Chairman | 6.1yrs | US$199.99k | 0.017% $ 87.6k | |
| Director | 3.4yrs | US$182.99k | 0.045% $ 237.9k | |
| Member of Scientific Advisory Board | 4.2yrs | no data | no data | |
| Director | 8.7yrs | US$202.99k | 0.11% $ 595.4k | |
| Independent Director | 3.6yrs | US$209.99k | 0.017% $ 87.6k | |
| Independent Director | 4.5yrs | US$202.99k | 0.017% $ 87.6k |
4.7yrs
Average Tenure
65yo
Average Age
Experienced Board: VSTM's board of directors are considered experienced (4.7 years average tenure).
Company Analysis and Financial Data Status
| Data | Last Updated (UTC time) |
|---|---|
| Company Analysis | 2026/05/07 12:55 |
| End of Day Share Price | 2026/05/07 00:00 |
| Earnings | 2025/12/31 |
| Annual Earnings | 2025/12/31 |
Data Sources
The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.
| Package | Data | Timeframe | Example US Source * |
|---|---|---|---|
| Company Financials | 10 years |
| |
| Analyst Consensus Estimates | +3 years |
|
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| Market Prices | 30 years |
| |
| Ownership | 10 years |
| |
| Management | 10 years |
| |
| Key Developments | 10 years |
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* Example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.
Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more.
Analysis Model and Snowflake
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Industry and Sector Metrics
Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on Github.
Analyst Sources
Verastem, Inc. is covered by 28 analysts. 9 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.
| Analyst | Institution |
|---|---|
| James Molloy | Alliance Global Partners |
| Matthew Cross | Alliance Global Partners |
| George Zavoico | B. Riley Securities, Inc. |