Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Expands its Board of Directors with Appointment of Frank S. Friedman

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Accomplished Former COO of Deloitte Brings Extensive Strategic, Operational and Business Expertise

WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 26, 2019-- Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq:DCPH), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company addressing key mechanisms of tumor drug resistance, today announced that it has elected Frank S. Friedman to its Board of Directors. Mr. Friedman recently served as the global Chief Operating Officer of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (Deloitte), a multinational services organization. Deciphera also announced that Michael Ross, Ph.D., will be stepping down from its Board of Directors.

“We are honored to have Frank join our Board of Directors, and believe that his extensive operational and financial experience gained over his nearly 40-year career at Deloitte will be invaluable to Deciphera as we build our organization,” said Steve Hoerter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Deciphera. “We believe that his guidance will be beneficial as we continue to advance our pipeline of novel product candidates and scale our operations. I also want to thank Michael Ross for his guidance and invaluable contributions to Deciphera and wish him well in his future endeavors.”

“I’m looking forward to working with Deciphera’s distinguished board members and impressive leadership team at this pivotal time for the company, and to contributing to its future success,” said Mr. Friedman. “It’s meaningful to be part of this company’s mission, to improve the lives of cancer patients, and I’m hopeful that both my business and board expertise will benefit Deciphera’s business strategy as it prepares for potential growth into a commercial stage company.”

Mr. Friedman currently serves as Chief Executive Officer at a privately-held finance company. Previously, Mr. Friedman worked for Deloitte from 1979 until his retirement from Deloitte in November 2019. During this time, Mr. Friedman served in several senior officer positions at Deloitte, including as the global Chief Operating Officer from June 2015 through June 2019. Mr. Friedman has also served as Deloitte’s US Chief Operating Officer, from June 2015 to June 2017 and Deloitte’s US Chief Financial Officer, from June 2011 through May 2016. Mr. Friedman served as interim U.S. Chief Executive Officer from 2014 to 2015. Mr. Friedman received his Bachelor of Arts in accounting and business administration from the University of Kansas.

About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the lives of cancer patients by addressing 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, and agents designed to inhibit reprogramming of cancer cell metabolism. We have used our platform to develop a diverse pipeline of tumor-targeted, immuno-targeted, and metabolism-targeted drug candidates designed to improve outcomes for patients with cancer by improving the quality, rate and/or durability of their responses to treatment.

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 future growth and scale of operations, potential growth into a commercial company and the potential of our pipeline product candidates to improve the lives of patients with cancer. The words “may,” “will,” “could,” “would,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “project,” “potential,” “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 product candidates, including ripretinib, our ability to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of our product candidates including in later-stage studies, the preclinical and clinical results for our product candidates, which may not support further development of such product candidates, the possibility that results experienced in early, preliminary, top-line or initial data, may not be indicative of the results experienced in final data, our ability to timely complete and prepare the information required for and file an NDA for ripretinib, the fact that receipt of a breakthrough therapy designation for a product candidate, such as ripretinib, may not result in us receiving any of the benefits of such designation, our ability to manage and our reliance on third parties such as our third party drug substance and drug product contract manufacturers, actions of regulatory agencies, any or all of which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of clinical studies and the timing of and our ability to obtain regulatory approval, if at all, and make our investigational drugs available to patients, and other risks identified in our SEC filings, including our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019, 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.

Source: Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

Investor Relations:
Jen Robinson
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
jrobinson@deciphera.com
781-906-1112

Media:
David Rosen
Argot Partners
David.Rosen@argotpartners.com
212-600-1902