WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--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.