Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Announces Extension of BRAF collaboration and Receipt of Development Milestone from Eli Lilly and Company

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals today announced that it has extended its oncology collaboration with Eli Lilly and Company focused on B-RAF kinase inhibitors for the treatment of malignant melanoma and other malignancies brought about by mutation of B-RAF.
The one year extension calls for continued collaboration to progress assets in preclinical development. Deciphera has received a Discovery Milestone for delivering advanced molecules and will receive Full -Time Equivalent (FTE) support from Lilly during the extension. Additional development milestones could be received if a specific candidate is identified for development and progresses into clinical trials.

Deciphera’s switch pocket inhibitor program in B-RAF has identified classes of inhibitors which potently inhibit B-RAF V600E, the B-RAF mutation which is responsible for approximately 60% of human melanoma.

“We are committed to our B-RAF collaboration with Lilly,” says Deciphera CEO Daniel Flynn. “Our colleagues at Lilly have been equally committed to this program and in developing best-in-class RAF inhibitor candidates for progression into development.”

Jonathan Yingling, Ph.D., Lilly’s Vice President for Oncology Drug Discovery, added, “The drug discovery partnership we have established with Deciphera continues to provide an opportunity to identify novel molecules targeting the V600E B-RAF oncogene. This unique class of molecules has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for cancer patients and we look forward to the identification of a development candidate with Deciphera during this research extension.”

Deciphera’s B-RAF oncology collaboration with Lilly was first announced in October 2008.