Deciphera Pharmaceuticals announces initiation of DCC-2036 Phase 1 Clinical Trial in Refractory CML and All

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals LLC (Lawrence, KS USA) announces the initiation of their IND Phase 1 trial for DCC-2036 on March 25, 2009, at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. This Phase 1 study will evaluate the safety and tolerability of once a day continuous oral dosing of DCC-2036, a BCR-ABL kinase inhibitor, in patients with treatment resistant or intolerant Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) or Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) including patients with the T315I gatekeeper amino acid mutation, for whom there remains a significant unmet medical need. This study will also enroll patients at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

DCC-2036 is a tyrosine kinase inhibitor that is based on a proprietary ‘kinase switch pocket’ platform which designs small molecule inhibitors to constrain otherwise activated kinases in inactive conformational states. This approach has particular application in oncology, where kinases become conformationally activated by mutation. In addition to its inhibition of BCR-ABL, DCC-2036 also potently inhibits TIE2, LYN, HCK and FLT3 kinases, all of which are relevant to the treatment of myleoproliferative diseases.