Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing advanced kinase inhibitor treatments targeting the tumor cell and the tumor microenvironment, today announced that it has closed a $75 million Series B financing led by New Leaf Venture Partners and joined by Deciphera's existing investors. The proceeds will enable Deciphera to advance its pipeline of proprietary switch control kinase inhibitors through multiple key clinical milestones. Concurrent with the financing, Liam Ratcliffe, M.D., Ph.D., Managing Director at New Leaf Venture Partners, will join Deciphera's board of directors.

'We believe that Deciphera has developed an exceptional pipeline of unique switch control kinase inhibitors that will provide the foundation for building a substantial oncology company.'

'We are very pleased to have secured significant funding from one of the preeminent life science investors, New Leaf Venture Partners, whose commitment to Deciphera reflects the strong potential of our unique switch control kinase inhibitors to address the unmet needs of patients with cancer,' said Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D., President and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals. 'The proceeds of this financing will be used to advance our lead candidates, altiratinib and DCC-2618, through clinical proof- of-concept and further develop our strong pipeline including rebastinib and DCC-3014.'

Altiratinib is currently in a late Phase 1 dose escalation study with Phase 1 expansion trials in patients with actionable MET genomic alterations expected to start early in 2016. DCC-2618 is expected to enter a first-in-human Phase 1 dose escalation trial before the end of the year.

'New Leaf Venture Partners is excited to support the Deciphera team as they develop multiple promising drug candidates that address the continued need for effective and safe medicines in the treatment of cancer,' said Dr. Ratcliffe. 'We believe that Deciphera has developed an exceptional pipeline of unique switch control kinase inhibitors that will provide the foundation for building a substantial oncology company.'

Deciphera's proprietary switch control kinase inhibitor technology platform has enabled the development of advanced small molecule 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 (DCC-2701), a MET/TIE2/VEGFR2/TRK inhibitor; DCC-2618, a pan-KIT inhibitor; 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 inhibitor of CSF1R, is currently in preclinical development.

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 NLV Partners

New Leaf Venture Partners is a leader in healthcare technology venture investing. Our investment professionals bring a unique blend of technical, clinical, and operational experience to our investments, working closely with our entrepreneurs and management teams to help build successful companies. We invest in both public and private biopharmaceutical companies as well as healthcare-related information technology companies.

New Leaf currently manages over $1 billion in assets. This includes NLV's funds, New Leaf Ventures I, L.P., New Leaf Ventures II, L.P., New Leaf Ventures III, L.P. and New Leaf Growth Fund I, L.P. New Leaf was formed in 2005 as the healthcare spinoff from the Sprout Group, one of the oldest U.S. venture capital funds. For more information please visit http://www.nlvpartners.com.