Deciphera Pharma Takes Another Step Closer to IPO

By Chris Lange Updated Jan 12, 8:04AM EST · Published Sep 18, 10:35AM EDT

Deciphera Pharma Takes Another Step Closer to IPO — © Thinkstock

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals has registered an amended S-1 form with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO). The company expects to price its 6.25 million shares in the range of $15 to $17 per share, with an overallotment option for an additional 937,500 shares. At the maximum price, the whole offering is valued up to $122.79 million. The company intends to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol DCPH.

The underwriters for the offering are JPMorgan, Piper Jaffray and JMP Securities.

This clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company is developing new drugs to improve the lives of cancer patients by addressing key mechanisms of drug resistance that limit the rate and durability of response of many cancer therapies. Its targeted, small molecule drug candidates, designed using the proprietary kinase switch control inhibitor platform, inhibit the activation of kinases, an important family of enzymes that, when mutated or overexpressed, are known to be directly involved in the growth and spread of many cancers.

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The company has built a diverse pipeline of wholly owned, orally administered drug candidates that include three clinical-stage and two research-stage programs. Management has designed the firm’s lead drug candidate DCC-2618 to inhibit the full spectrum of mutant or amplified KIT and PDGFRα kinases that drive cancers such as gastrointestinal stromal tumors (GIST).

Deciphera is studying DCC-2618 in an ongoing Phase 1 trial in patients with advanced malignancies. The company recently presented results from this Phase 1 trial that demonstrate clinical proof-of-concept at well tolerated doses in 57 heavily pretreated patients with KIT-driven or PDGFRα-driven GIST. In this study the firm observed a disease control rate of 91% at eight weeks in 33 patients, 76% at 12 weeks in 25 patients and 57% at 24 weeks in 21 patients.

The firm intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to further fund its pipeline, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.

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About the Author Chris Lange →

Chris Lange is a writer for 24/7 Wall St., based in Houston. He has covered financial markets over the past decade with an emphasis on healthcare, tech, and IPOs. During this time, he has published thousands of articles with insightful analysis across these complex fields. Currently, Lange's focus is on military and geopolitical topics.

Lange's work has been quoted or mentioned in Forbes, The New York Times, Business Insider, USA Today, MSN, Yahoo, The Verge, Vice, The Intelligencer, Quartz, Nasdaq, The Motley Fool, Fox Business, International Business Times, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Barron’s, Benzinga, and many other major publications.

A graduate of Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas, Lange majored in business with a particular focus on investments. He has previous experience in the banking industry and startups.