What happened Shares of Verastem (NASDAQ: VSTM) sank Wednesday, trading down by 10% as of 2:30 p.m. EST after the company announced that Chief Medical Officer Dr. Frank Neumann is departing. He has decided to accept a position at an unspecified company. So what The surprise news comes just two weeks after Neumann joined Verastem from Bluebird Bio, where he had served as head of oncology clinical research. The stock had been trending higher since that announcement, as investors viewed his hiring optimistically. Neumann, an industry veteran, was expected to be instrumental in Verastem's development of VS-6766 and defactinib, a pair of oral small-molecule inhibitors that are currently undergoing clinical trials as potential cancer treatments. Image source: Getty Images. "Given my respect for the people and leadership at Verastem and the truly exciting data and strategy I have seen, this decision to leave is difficult and based solely on continuing my work in cell therapy," Neumann said in a statement. "I am confident that Verastem will continue to make a positive impact on patients' lives." Now what The biotech company will now need to push forward without Neumann. Verastem did not indicate whether or not it plans to search for a new chief medical officer. "Our team is making significant advances in achieving the Company's strategic goals, including maximizing the broad potential of our development programs," CEO Brian Stuglik commented. "Dr. Neumann's tenure was brief, and we expect his departure will have no impact on our continued progress." 10 stocks we like better than VerastemWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Verastem wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of November 20, 2020 Evan Niu, CFA has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Bluebird Bio. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source