Deciphera Increases Size Of Series B Financing To Over $90 Million With Addition Of SV Life Sciences

Michael Ross, Managing Director of SV Life Sciences, to join Deciphera Board of Directors

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing advanced kinase inhibitor treatments, today announced that it has increased the size of its Series B financing to over $90 million with the addition of SV Life Sciences. In September 2015, the Company announced the initial closing of the Series B, which was led by New Leaf Venture Partners and joined by Deciphera’s existing investors, to fund development of the Company’s pipeline of proprietary switch control kinase inhibitors. Concurrent with the financing, Michael Ross Ph.D., Managing Partner at SV Life Sciences, will join Deciphera’s board of directors.

“The Company is very pleased to welcome SV Life Sciences, a premiere healthcare investor, to the Deciphera team”

“The Company is very pleased to welcome SV Life Sciences, a premiere healthcare investor, to the Deciphera team,” said Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D., President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. “SV Life Sciences’ investment in our upsized Series B financing further highlights the breadth and depth of Deciphera’s clinical pipeline of oncology candidates and the differentiated nature of our technology platform. We look forward to the valuable contributions that Mike Ross and the SV team will bring to Deciphera as we advance our pipeline of unique switch control kinase inhibitors designed to improve the rate and durability of responses in targeted therapies for cancer.”

SV Life Sciences’ investment will contribute to rapid progression of Deciphera’s lead tumor-targeting clinical programs, including Altiratinib and DCC-2618, as well as its immuno-targeted therapies such as DCC-3014 and Rebastanib, offering the potential to provide patients with innovative new therapeutic options while building a strong oncology-focused biotechnology company.

Deciphera’s proprietary switch control kinase inhibitor technology platform has enabled the development of tumor-targeted and immuno-targeted kinase inhibitor therapeutics that provide robust and durable kinase binding and block key cancer signaling mechanisms and mutational resistance. Deciphera’s product pipeline includes four product candidates in Phase 1 clinical development including altiratinib, a MET/TRK inhibitor currently in a late Phase 1 dose escalation study with Phase 1 expansion trials in patients with actionable MET and TRK genomic alterations expected to start early in 2016; DCC-2618, a pan-KIT inhibitor currently in a Phase 1 dose escalation trial; rebastinib, a TIE2 kinase inhibitor; and a pan-RAF inhibitor (LY-3009120) being developed by partner Eli Lilly. In addition, DCC-3014, Deciphera’s selective small molecule inhibitor of CSF1R, is currently in preclinical development and expected to enter first-in-human studies in 2016.

About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals seeks to improve treatment for patients with cancer by designing kinase inhibitor therapies that target the hallmarks of cancer biology. We specifically design our small molecule compounds to simultaneously block multiple cancer signaling mechanisms in the tumor cell and the tumor microenvironment to prevent growth and spread. Deciphera’s unique approach represents an important advance over current therapies in the durability of kinase inhibition and resiliency to genetic mutations to provide greater benefit across a range of cancers. Deciphera’s business strategy is to advance its drug candidates for genetically defined cancers and cancers that target the tumor microenvironment through both proprietary and partnered programs.

About SV Life Sciences

SV Life Sciences is a leading international life sciences venture capital firm. SVLS affiliated funds have been investing in life sciences companies since the early 1980s and the firm closed its first dedicated life sciences fund in 1994.

The SVLS team manages five private venture capital funds with approximately $1.9 billion of capital under management. The firm employs a diversified strategy within life sciences in order to selectively capitalize on an expanding opportunity in biotech, medical devices and health-care services. SVLS has offices in Boston, London and San Francisco. For more information please visit http://www.svlsa.com/index.html.