- The proceeds will enable Step Pharma to conclude three separate on-going phase 1a/b studies with dencatistat, a first-in-class CTPS1 inhibitor, and then advance into phase 2.
- Round led by V-Bio Ventures, with participation from existing investors Pontifax, BPIFrance, Kurma Partners, Hadean Ventures, Sunstone Life Science Ventures and Inserm Transfert Initiative.
- Financing follows recent progress of lead product dencatistat into its third clinical programme, in essential thrombocythaemia, following lymphoma and solid tumours.
The financing will enable Step Pharma to continue advancing its ‘pipeline in a product’ strategy for dencatistat, a first-in-class, highly selective, orally bioavailable CTPS1 inhibitor currently in clinical development for the treatment of cancers and blood disorders. All cancers appear to be highly reliant on CTPS1, a key component of the pyrimidine synthesis pathway, for DNA synthesis and cell proliferation.
Dencatistat is being evaluated in a phase 1/2 clinical trial for adult patients with relapsed/refractory T or B cell lymphoma, and received orphan drug designation for the treatment of T cell lymphoma in May 2025. The Company is also evaluating dencatistat in a phase 1 trialin solid tumour patients, with expansion cohorts planned in CTPS2 null ovarian, endometrial and lung cancers.
Clinical trials of dencatistat in lymphoma demonstrated that continual administration results in a dose dependent and reversible lowering of the platelet count. This led to the initiation of Step Pharma’s third clinical programme for dencatistat, in essential thrombocythaemia (ET), a rare clonal blood disorder in which the bone marrow produces too many platelets.