Kansas Biosciences Authority Votes in Favor of a $1.6MM Product Development Grant to Deciphera.

July 18, 2011 (Lawrence, Kansas) - The Kansas Bioscience Authority Investment Meeting voted on July 13th to approve a $1.6MM grant under the KBA Voucher Program to support preclinical development activities for three new development candidates nominated from the Deciphera drug pipeline. The three projects supported by this new grant include DCC-2618, a pan-cKIT kinase inhibitor which targets treatment-resistant gastrointestinal stromal tumors; DCC-2721, a cMET kinase inhibitor which has shown great promise for prevention of metastatic spread of cancers; and DP-5599, a cFMS kinase inhibitor for treatment of autoimmune disorders, including rheumatoid arthritis. Preliminary studies on a second cFMS inhibitor, DCC-2909, are also included in this grant to advance this compound as a potential treatment of tumor metastasis, and especially bone metastases of breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers.

The KBA Voucher program provides matching funds for product development studies involving two or more Kansas-based entities. Deciphera’s partners for this grant include Xenometrics LLC, a safety testing and toxicology facility located in Stillwell, KS; XenoTech LLC, which specializes in drug metabolism services, located in Lenexa, KS; and KCAS, a Shawnee, KS-based provider of bioanalytical services. This award follows after a previous Voucher award received in July 2010 which provided support for earlier stage studies and were important in helping to characterize and identify the drug candidates which are the subject of this new grant.

For more information on the KBA voucher program, refer to http://www.kansasbioauthority.org/how_we_can_help/Voucher.aspx.