Medison Pharma Enters Exclusive Distribution Agreement with Deciphera Pharmaceuticals to Commercialize QINLOCK® (Ripretinib) in a Multi-Regional Agreement

PETACH TIKVA, Israel and WALTHAM, Mass., Nov. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Medison Pharma, a leading international commercial partner for highly innovative therapies, today announced an exclusive distribution agreement with Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: DCPH) to commercialize QINLOCK, a switch-control tyrosine kinase inhibitor, in Canada and Israel for the treatment of fourth-line gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST).

GIST is a cancer that occurs in the gastrointestinal tract, most commonly in the stomach or small intestine. QINLOCK has been approved in Canada as of June 2020 for the treatment of adult patients with GIST who have received prior treatment with imatinib, sunitinib, and regorafenib and is expected to be launched by Medison Canada in Q4 2020. Medison Israel is planning to submit QINLOCK for registration during Q1 2021 and commence an early access program (EAP) for Israeli patients immediately after. QINLOCK has also been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for fourth-line GIST.

"We are proud to join forces with Deciphera and share a joint commitment to making highly innovative therapies accessible to cancer patients. Our multi-territorial partnership enables Deciphera to accelerate the reach of its breakthrough oncology treatment to patients across markets," said Meir Jakobsohn, Founder and CEO of Medison Pharma.

"QINLOCK is a great fit for our portfolio and meets the growing need in Canada for cutting-edge therapies. Medison Canada is the only commercial partner in the Canadian market that focuses solely on providing access to life-saving, innovative therapeutics to Canadian patients," said Joe O'Neill, GM of Medison Canada.

"We are focused on bringing QINLOCK to people living with GIST around the world and are proud to be expanding the geographical reach of this important medicine to patients in Canada and Israel," said Steve Hoerter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Deciphera. "We look forward to partnering with Medison to provide patients and doctors with this much-needed therapeutic option for the treatment of advanced GIST."

About Medison Pharma

Medison is one of the world's largest commercial partner of leading global biotech companies. Medison is uniquely qualified to provide the complete spectrum of integrated services for international companies looking to enter or expand their presence in International markets, focusing on Canada, Israel and Central Eastern Europe. Medison runs a corporate venture arm with a dedicated research and evaluation team boasting deep scientific and commercial backgrounds. Medison also operates a scouting program to cater its partners and is an active investor in life science projects around drug development and digital health. For more information, visit www.medison.co.il and follow us on LinkedIn.

About QINLOCK (ripretinib)

QINLOCK is a switch-control tyrosine kinase inhibitor that was engineered to broadly inhibit KIT and PDGFRA mutated kinases by using a dual mechanism of action that regulates the kinase switch pocket and activation loop. QINLOCK inhibits primary and secondary KIT mutations in exons 9, 11, 13, 14, 17, and 18 involved in GIST, as well as the primary exon 17 D816V mutation. QINLOCK also inhibits primary PDGFRA mutations in exons 12, 14, and 18, including the exon 18 D842V mutation, involved in a subset of GIST.

QINLOCK is approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of adult patients with advanced GIST who have received prior treatment with three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib. It is also approved by Health Canada for the treatment of adult patients with advanced GIST who have received prior treatment with imatinib, sunitinib, and regorafenib and by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration for the treatment of adult patients with advanced GIST who have received prior treatment with three or more kinase inhibitors, including imatinib.

Deciphera Pharmaceuticals is developing QINLOCK for the treatment of KIT and/or PDGFRA-driven cancers, including GIST, and maintains global development and commercial rights except for select geographies. 

About GIST

Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is a cancer affecting the digestive tract or nearby structures within the abdomen, most often presenting in the stomach or small intestine. GIST is the most common sarcoma of the gastrointestinal tract, with approximately 4,000 to 6,000 new GIST cases each year in the United States and a similar incidence rate in European and other countries. Most cases of GIST are driven by a spectrum of mutations. The most common primary mutations are in KIT kinase, representing approximately 80% of cases, or in PDGFRA kinase, representing approximately 6% of cases. Current therapies are unable to inhibit the full spectrum of primary and secondary mutations, which drives resistance and disease progression. Estimates for 5-year survival range from 48% to 90%, depending on the stage of the disease at diagnosis.

About Deciphera Pharmaceuticals

Deciphera is a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing and commercializing important new medicines to improve the lives of people with cancer. We are leveraging our proprietary switch-control kinase inhibitor platform and deep expertise in kinase biology to develop a broad portfolio of innovative medicines. In addition to advancing multiple product candidates from our platform in clinical studies, QINLOCK is Deciphera's FDA-approved switch-control kinase inhibitor for the treatment of fourth-line gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). QINLOCK is also approved for fourth-line GIST in Canada and Australia. For more information, visit www.deciphera.com and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter (@Deciphera).

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Medison Contact:
Maya Nix
Corporate Communications Lead
mayan@medison.co.il 
+972-3-925-0260

Deciphera Investor Contact:
Jen Robinson
Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
jrobinson@deciphera.com
+1-781-906-1112

Deciphera Media Contact:
David Rosen
Argot Partners
david.rosen@argotpartners.com
+1-212-600-1902