Lawrence Regional Technology Center

New company gets helping hand
By Dan Flynn and Peter Petillo, Journal-World

Saturday, December 20, 2003

Imagine trying to establish a new start-up pharmaceutical company anywhere in the United States over the past 12 months. We have many friends and colleagues who have bemoaned the national economic downturn in the biotechnology sector during 2002-03. Their efforts to start or grow new companies on either the East or West Coast have been met largely with disappointment and the inability to raise sufficient working capital.

We were counseled not to expect much when we decided to establish Deciphera Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, Mass., in August 2002. Now it is one year later. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals has met its initial goals in establishing its drug discovery platform. It has found a research home, completed renovation of a research facility, filed key patents, raised a total of $16.5 million in working capital, and made its first critical hires. And not in Boston, San Diego, or San Francisco.

We did it all in Kansas. This accomplishment took an enormous amount of hard work by very determined, dedicated Kansans. A group of men from Lawrence Regional Technology Center (LRTC), Sam Campbell & Associates of Lawrence, Dec Investors LLC of Lawrence, Kansas Technology Enterprise Corporation (KTEC) and the Precede Fund of Kansas City, Kan., made this dream possible. All of these organizations represent Kansas institutions that patiently and deliberately worked with each other and with Deciphera Pharmaceuticals over the past year.

Starting with an inaugural work session on Aug. 17, 2002, this group provided local investment dollars and a research site at West Lawrence Research Laboratories facility in Lawrence. KTEC laid the groundwork for the infusion of $100,000 in December 2002, and a second $100,000 in July 2003. The Precede Fund from Kansas University Medical Center contributed $50,000 of working capital. A group of Lawrence investors banded together to form Dec Investors, LLC. By July 2003, this dedicated group collectively brought in $600,000 of seed capital.

All of this effort by KTEC, LRTC, and Dec Investors enabled Deciphera Pharmaceuticals to not only locate in Lawrence but to succeed in Lawrence. Heading into our second year, we have completed major research initiatives in founding our drug discovery platform and have leveraged this success to land an additional $15 million in funding over the next four years.

A very sincere thank you is extended to these dedicated Kansas institutions. Your words of support have been matched with your resolve and dedication. Deciphera Pharmaceuticals is proud to be in Lawrence and to be a part of the greater Kansas City-Lawrence Life Sciences Initiative.

-- Dan Flynn is president and CEO of Deciphera Pharmaceuticals, LLC. Peter Petillo is the chief science officer of the company.