On Monday, Japanese pharma company ONO Pharmaceutical agreed to acquire Deciphera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:DCPH) for $25.60 per share in cash, for a total equity value of $2.4 billion. 

Deciphera brings specialized research and development capabilities in kinase drug discovery, well-established commercial and sales platforms in the United States and Europe, and global clinical development capabilities. 

In addition to QINLOCK – Deciphera’s switch-control inhibitor for the treatment of fourth-line gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST), which is approved in the U.S. and over 40 other countries, Deciphera also brings a pipeline of cancer drugs such as vimseltinib, DCC-3116 (a ULK inhibitor) and multiple additional oncology candidates. 

Related: Deciphera Pharmaceuticals’ Investigational Drug Shows Encouraging Response Rates In Rare Type Of Cancer.

The purchase price represents a premium of 74.7% to Deciphera’s closing share price of $14.65 on April 26, 2024, and a premium of 68.8% to Deciphera’s 30-trading-day volume weighted average price as of April 26, 2024.

The Acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2024.

Upon completion of the Acquisition, Deciphera will operate as a standalone business of ONO Group from its headquarters in Waltham, Massachusetts.

Price Action: DCPH shares are up 75.01% at $25.21 at the last check Monday.

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