Verastem Oncology Appoints Rob Gagnon to Board of Directors
BOSTON – December 15, 2022 – Verastem Oncology (Nasdaq:VSTM), a biopharmaceutical company committed to advancing new medicines for patients with cancer, today announced the appointment of Robert Gagnon to its Board of Directors, effective December 13, 2022. Mr. Gagnon is the Chief Financial Officer and Operating Partner at Gurnet Point Capital, a healthcare venture capital and private equity fund and the former Chief Business Officer and Chief Financial Officer at Verastem Oncology.
“Rob’s expertise in all areas of biopharmaceutical finance, including his ability to navigate complex business challenges, combined with his deep understanding of Verastem’s goals and operations, will be invaluable to Verastem’s work,” said Michael Kauffman, M.D., Ph.D., Lead Director of the Verastem Oncology Board of Directors. “Having worked with Rob over the past several years, I am pleased to welcome him to the Board of Directors and look forward to the input and guidance he will bring to the team.”
“I am committed to Verastem’s mission to deliver a new solution to patients with low-grade serous ovarian cancer and advancing the development program across RAS-driven tumors, all areas of high unmet medical need,” said Mr. Gagnon. “I am excited to contribute to Verastem in this new capacity by joining the distinguished and dedicated Board of Directors and contribute to Verastem’s continued progress.”
Mr. Gagnon has more than 20 years of financial and commercial experience in heading global finance operations. Prior to his positions at Gurnet Point Capital and Verastem Oncology, he was Chief Financial Officer at Harvard Bioscience, Inc., a global developer, manufacturer, and marketer of a broad range of tools to advance life science research and regenerative medicine. Prior to this, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer, and Treasurer at Clean Harbors, Inc. as well as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller at Biogen Idec, Inc. Earlier, he worked in a variety of senior positions at Deloitte & Touche, LLP, and Price Waterhouse Coopers, LLP. He holds an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management and a Bachelor of Arts degree in accounting from Bentley College.
About Avutometinib (VS-6766)
Avutometinib 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. Avutometinib is currently in late-stage development.
In contrast to other MEK inhibitors, avutometinib blocks both MEK kinase activity and the ability of RAF to phosphorylate MEK. This unique mechanism allows avutometinib to block MEK signaling without the compensatory activation of MEK that appears to limit the efficacy of other inhibitors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Breakthrough Therapy designation for the combination of Verastem Oncology’s investigational RAF/MEK clamp avutometinib, with defactinib, its FAK inhibitor, for the
