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 —
WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 4, 2019--
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.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190304005818/en/
Source: Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Contacts:
Media:
Gina Nugent, The Yates Network
gina@theyatesnetwork.com
617-460-3579
Investor Relations:
Laura Perry or Sam Martin, Argot Partners
Laura@argotpartners.com or Sam@argotpartners.com
212-600-1902
Company:
Christopher J. Morl, Chief Business Officer
Deciphera
Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
cmorl@deciphera.com
781-209-6418
