Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM) reported Q1 EPS of ($0.52), $0.05 worse than the analyst estimate of ($0.47). Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.67 million versus the consensus estimate of $2.91 million.

“We are now into the second full quarter of the COPIKTRA launch and sales were up approximately 38% compared to the prior quarter,” said Robert Forrester, President and Chief Executive Officer of Verastem Oncology. “We have also made substantial progress securing broader reimbursement for our product, with over 92% of targeted health plans now listing and providing reimbursement for COPIKTRA. We continue to receive positive feedback from physicians using COPIKTRA for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) after at least two prior therapies or follicular lymphoma (FL) after at least two prior systemic therapies.”

“The commercial team has been diligently working to enhance physician and advocacy group awareness of COPIKTRA, and to overcome certain historical misperceptions concerning the PI3K class. We believe the groundwork we have laid over the past several months will have an increasingly positive impact through 2019 and into next year. In parallel, we continue to advance duvelisib in additional lines of therapy, both as a monotherapy and in combination, as well as in additional indications like peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL) for which preliminary data are expected by the end of this year,” concluded Mr. Forrester.

GUIDANCE:

Verastem sees FY2019 revenue of $10-12 million, versus the consensus of $30.33 million.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Verastem (VSTM) click here.