Current Deciphera Director and Experienced
Commercial Oncology Executive, Steve Hoerter, Appointed as New
President & Chief Executive Officer
— Outgoing CEO Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D. to
Continue to Serve as a Member of Board of Directors —
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:DCPH), a clinical-stage
biopharmaceutical company focused on addressing key mechanisms of
tumor drug resistance, today announced that after a successful
tenure since 2014, Michael D. Taylor, Ph.D. will retire as
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company effective
March 18, 2019, when Dr. Taylor will transition to senior advisor
to the Company for six months; Dr. Taylor will also remain a member
of the Company’s Board of Directors. Steve Hoerter, a current
member of the Company’s Board of Directors, has been appointed as
Deciphera’s next President and Chief Executive Officer.
Mr. Hoerter joins the Company from Agios, a commercial-stage
oncology company, where he was Chief Commercial Officer. Mr.
Hoerter has more than 25 years of global pharmaceutical and
biotechnology sales, product launch and general management
experience, having held senior commercial positions at leading
oncology companies including Agios, Clovis, Roche, Genentech,
Chiron, and Eli Lilly.
“Under Mike’s leadership since 2014, Deciphera has made
tremendous progress: transitioning from an early-stage private
company into a public company with two ongoing pivotal Phase 3
studies, multiple promising clinical product candidates, and a
robust discovery engine. On behalf of the entire Board of
Directors, we extend our sincerest gratitude for Mike’s leadership
and commitment to delivering on the Company’s mission,” said James
A. Bristol, Ph.D., Chairman of the Deciphera Board of Directors.
“This leadership succession comes as Deciphera prepares to
transition into a commercial-stage oncology company, a setting in
which Steve has an impressive, proven track record of success.
Steve’s significant contributions as an existing member of our
Board of Directors give us great confidence that he will be an
exceptional CEO who will lead Deciphera to continued success as we
seek to become a commercial oncology company.”
“It has been a privilege to serve as Deciphera’s Chief Executive
Officer. I am very proud of what our team has accomplished over the
last five years,” said Dr. Taylor. “Having worked closely with
Steve since he joined as a Board member, I am confident that he is
the right person to lead Deciphera as we move toward our next goal
of becoming a commercial oncology company. I wish Steve the best of
luck as CEO and look forward to working with him in my new role as
a senior advisor and continued service on the Board.”
“This is an exciting time at Deciphera as we prepare for the
read-out of our first Phase 3 trial of ripretinib and the potential
transition to a commercial-stage company,” said Mr. Hoerter. “I am
honored to succeed Mike as CEO, and to lead Deciphera as we rapidly
advance our portfolio of transformative product candidates with the
goal of improving the lives of people living with cancer. Together
with the great team at Deciphera, I look forward to building on the
strong science and patient-focused culture of the Company.”
Mr. Hoerter brings to Deciphera more than 25 years of global
pharmaceutical and biotechnology experience, having held senior
commercial and general management positions at leading oncology
companies. As Chief Commercial Officer at Agios Pharmaceuticals,
Inc. he built and led the team responsible for the
commercialization of the company’s portfolio of first-in-class
medicines for oncology and rare genetic diseases. Prior to joining
Agios in 2016, Mr. Hoerter was Executive Vice President and Chief
Commercial Officer at Clovis Oncology, Inc. Before joining Clovis,
Mr. Hoerter was General Manager and Management Center Head at Roche
for the Sub-Saharan Africa and Indian Ocean Region, based in
Johannesburg, South Africa. From 2005 to 2010, he held a variety of
positions at Genentech, Inc., including serving on the senior
leadership team for Genentech’s BioOncology business. Prior to
that, Mr. Hoerter held commercial roles at Chiron Corporation and
Eli Lilly and Company in the U.S., Europe, and Africa. Mr. Hoerter
currently serves on the Board of Directors at Constellation
Pharmaceuticals and was previously a member of the Board of
Directors of Ignyta, Inc., a biotechnology company focused on
precision medicine in oncology, until the company’s acquisition by
Roche in 2017. Mr. Hoerter received his B.A. from Bucknell
University, M.B.A. from Tilburg University in the Netherlands, and
M.S. in management from Purdue University.
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
investigational 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 responses to
treatment.
Availability of Other Information About Deciphera
Pharmaceuticals
Investors and others should note that Deciphera Pharmaceuticals
communicates with its investors and the public using its company
website (www.deciphera.com), including but not limited to investor
presentations and scientific presentations, Securities and Exchange
Commission filings, press releases, public conference calls and
webcasts. The information that Deciphera Pharmaceuticals posts on
these channels and websites could be deemed to be material
information. As a result, Deciphera Pharmaceuticals encourages
investors, the media and others interested in Deciphera
Pharmaceuticals to review the information that it posts on these
channels, including Deciphera Pharmaceuticals’ investor relations
website, on a regular basis. This list of channels may be updated
from time to time on Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' investor relations
website and may include other social media channels than the ones
described above. The contents of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals' website
or these channels, or any other website that may be accessed from
its website or these channels, shall not be deemed incorporated by
reference in any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as
amended.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended, including, without limitation, statements
regarding our expectations regarding timing of reporting top-line
data from our INVICTUS pivotal Phase 3 study, the potential for
ripretinib to treat cancers such as GIST and other possible
indications, launch preparations and expectations for a possible
commercial launch of ripretinib, if approved, and expectations
regarding the Company’s success as a commercial oncology company.
The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,”
“plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,”
“project,” “potential,” “goal,” “continue,” “target” and similar
expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements,
although not all forward-looking statements contain these
identifying words. Any forward-looking statements in this press
release are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs
and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and important
factors that may cause actual events or results to differ
materially from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking
statements contained in this press release, including, without
limitation, risks and uncertainties related to the delay of any
current or planned clinical studies or the development of our drug
candidates, including ripretinib (DCC-2618), rebastinib, and
DCC-3014, our advancement of multiple early-stage and later-stage
efforts, our ability to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and
safety of our drug candidates including in later-stage studies, the
preclinical and clinical results for our drug candidates, which may
not support further development of such drug candidates, our
efforts to scale up drug product manufacturing, our ability to
implement commercial readiness, actions of regulatory agencies, any
or all of which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of
clinical studies and other risks identified in our SEC filings,
including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended
September 30, 2018, and subsequent filings with the SEC. We caution
you not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date they are made. We disclaim any
obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to
reflect any change in expectations or in events, conditions or
circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that
may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from
those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Any
forward-looking statements contained in this press release
represent our views only as of the date hereof and should not be
relied upon as representing its views as of any subsequent date. We
explicitly disclaim any obligation to update any forward-looking
statements.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190304005818/en/
Contacts:Media:Gina Nugent, The Yates Networkgina@theyatesnetwork.com617-460-3579
Investor Relations:Laura Perry or Sam Martin, Argot
PartnersLaura@argotpartners.com or Sam@argotpartners.com212-600-1902
Company:Christopher J. Morl, Chief Business OfficerDeciphera
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.cmorl@deciphera.com781-209-6418
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