The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) says in its recent data breach, about 53 million email addresses were also taken along with payment card data. It said the criminals used a third-party vendor's user name and password to enter the perimeter of HD's network and then acquired elevated rights that allowed them to navigate portions of the network and to deploy unique, custom-built malware on its self-checkout systems in the U.S. and Canada. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE:HD) warned customers should be on guard against phishing scams.Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT) reported a miss on Q3 earnings and disclosed the publication of its FLINT trial in The Lancet. The biopharmaceutical, which focuses on the treatment of chronic liver diseases, reported a net loss for the third quarter of $3.58 million, or -$1.69 per share, missing the Capital IQ consensus estimate of -$1.11 per share. For the same quarter of 2013, Intercept Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:ICPT) reported a net loss of $3.17 million, or -$1.65 million. Revenue totaled $445,000, near in line with the Cap IQ estimate of $456,000, but up from $405,000 from Q3 2013. Separately, Intercept said results from the FLINT trial evaluating obeticholic acid (OCA) for the treatment of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) were published Thursday in The Lancet.In FLINT, OCA was superior to placebo for the primary outcome of improved liver histology (p = 0.0002) as described below, as well as the secondary endpoint of fibrosis improvement by at least one stage (p=0.004). Additionally, significant OCA treatment effects were demonstrated on the major histological features of NASH, including steatosis (p=0.001), lobular inflammation (p=0.006) and hepatocellular ballooning (p=0.03). Notably, post-hoc subgroup analyses found that the histological improvements were consistently greater in patients with more advanced disease and at greatest risk of progressing to liver failure and death. OCA was generally well tolerated in the FLINT trial, with pruritus occurring more frequently and at a higher grade in the OCA treatment group. The number of severe or life threatening events was not different compared to placebo.Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) said data from a study that was published in medical journal Blood demonstrate thatPYK2 is a "promising therapeutic target in multiple myeloma" and that the data supports ongoing clinical development of its VS-4718. "We believe that inhibitors of FAK and PYK2, such as VS-4718, may be useful in the treatment of many types of cancer, particularly where there is minimal residual disease with enrichment of cancer stem cells following chemotherapy," head of Verastem research Jonathan Pachter said in a statement.VS-4718 is currently being evaluated in a Phase 1 dose escalation clinical trial in patients with advanced solid tumors and a new Phase 1 trial of VS-4718 in hematological malignancies is currently planned to begin in the first quarter of 2015. Verastem Inc (NASDAQ:VSTM) is trading in the lower half of the 52-week range between $7.10 and $16.60.
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