WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on addressing key mechanisms of tumor drug resistance, today announced that it closed a $52 million Series C financing led by Viking Global Investors LP, Redmile Group, and Sphera Global Healthcare Fund and joined by Deciphera’s existing investors including New Leaf Venture Partners. The proceeds will enable Deciphera to advance its pipeline of novel oncology products into later-stage clinical development.
“We are very pleased to have secured this Series C funding from an outstanding group of life science investors who recognize the potential of our clinical-stage pipeline of unique switch control kinase inhibitors,” said Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D., President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. “The proceeds of this financing will be used to advance development of DCC-2618 and DCC-3014 into later-stage clinical trials with the goal of delivering new therapies that address key resistance mechanisms to improve cancer treatment outcomes.”
About DCC-2618
DCC-2618 is a pan-KIT and PDGFRα kinase
switch control inhibitor in clinical development for the treatment of
KIT and/or PDGFRα-driven cancers, including gastrointestinal stromal
tumors, glioblastoma multiforme and systemic mastocytosis. DCC-2618 is
currently in Phase 1 clinical development in patients with advanced
malignancies, including gastrointestinal stromal tumors, aggressive
systemic mastocytosis and malignant gliomas. Updated results from
the ongoing Phase 1 clinical study will be presented at the 2017
American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting taking place
June 2 – 6, 2017 in Chicago, IL.
About DCC-3014
DCC-3014 was purposefully designed using the
company’s proprietary switch control inhibitor platform to be a
highly-specific macrophage immunomodulatory agent. In preclinical
models, DCC-3014 has demonstrated potent inhibition of the colony
stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R), an important target for the
treatment of many cancer indications. Deciphera reported preclinical
data demonstrating potent macrophage checkpoint inhibition with DCC-3014
in multiple cancer models both as a single agent and in combination with
a PD-1 inhibitor at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
Annual Meeting in April 2016. DCC-3014 is currently in Phase 1 clinical
development in patients with advanced malignancies.
About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals is
a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the
lives of cancer patients by tackling key mechanisms of drug resistance
that limit the rate and/or durability of response to existing cancer
therapies. Our small molecule drug candidates are directed against an
important family of enzymes called kinases, known to be directly
involved in the growth and spread of many cancers. We use our deep
understanding of kinase biology together with a proprietary chemistry
library to purposefully design compounds that maintain kinases in a
“switched off’ or inactivated conformation. These therapies comprise
tumor-targeted agents designed to address therapeutic resistance causing
mutations and immuno-targeted agents designed to control the activation
of immunokinases that suppress critical immune system regulators, such
as macrophages. We have used our platform to develop a diverse pipeline
of tumor-targeted and immuno-targeted drug candidates designed to
improve outcomes for patients with cancer by improving the quality, rate
and/or durability of their response to treatment.