Dewpoint’s big year ends with a bang and even bigger hopes for 2025

The past year has been a very busy one for privately-held Dewpoint Therapeutics, a Boston firm founded in 2018 that focuses on the application of biomolecular condensate biology towards the development of a new generation of therapeutics to address diseases of high unmet need.

However, not until the last quarter of the year has it become evident just how much the company has achieved. As many as four major announcements in the past three months have made Dewpoint’s progress public.

First came news of a heart disease licensing deal with German life sciences major Bayer (BAYN: DE). This is the first option exercise under the research collaboration between the companies, which began in November 2019, and follows on from Dewpoint’s previously-announced deals with Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) and Merck & Co (NYSE: MRK).

It leverages Dewpoint’s proprietary platform for biomolecular condensates and Bayer’s small molecule R&D capabilities to develop new treatments for cardiovascular and renal diseases.

Secondly, came the nomination of Dewpoint’s first development candidate , DPTX3186. This orally-administered small molecule condensate modulator (c-mod) inhibiting the oncogenic function of beta catenin, is being developed as a potential therapeutic agent for treatment of Wnt-driven cancers.

DPTX3186 was discovered using Dewpoint’s fully automated, AI/ML-enabled platform and proprietary chemical library. It is being developed in collaboration with Germany’s Evotec (FSE: EVT/Nasdaq: EVO).

The third announcement was news of a strategic research collaboration with Japan’s Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation (TYO: 4508).

This collaboration will see the companies advance Dewpoint’s novel TDP-43 small molecule c-mod for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Finally, Dewpoint and ConcertAI have announced the first phase of their translational oncology partnership , aligned around DPTX3186.

ALS deal a headline-grabber

Due to the huge unmet need in ALS, along with the promise of Dewpoint’ preclinical work in the field, the collaboration in this area is likely to receive plenty of attention.

Dewpoint has discovered a small molecule that addresses the mislocalization of the TAR DNA-binding protein 43 (TDP-43), a critical splicing factor implicated in several neurodegenerative

diseases and a key pathological feature present in more than 97% of ALS patients.

TDP-43 abnormally accumulates in membrane-less cytoplasmic structures, known as biomolecular condensates, leading to neuronal dysfunction in ALS patients.

Dewpoint identified a c-mod capable of mitigating these pathological TDP-43 condensates by selectively departitioning TDP-43 and restoring its correct localization into the nucleus, while preserving the normal cellular stress response.

By correcting this disease-driving condensate dysfunction, the treatment restores TDP-43's normal splicing activity, promotes neuronal health in in vitro models and improves multiple clinically relevant ALS biomarkers in animal models.

“It's brain penetrant, it looks incredibly well-tolerated, and we are seeing these profound effects on neurodegeneration markers as well as on the pathology itself, so we’re extremely excited,” Ameet Nathwani (pictured above), chief executive of Dewpoint, told The Pharma Letter.

“This could be something that, if we can progress, could be a real breakthrough in ALS. This could be the first mechanistic proof that affecting the condensate abnormality in the disease actually can lead to some slowing or reversal of the disease process, which we are very optimistic about.”

Mitsubishi Tanabe is one of the few companies with an approved drug for sporadic ALS.

“They have a global reach, they have the patient network, they have the global KOL network, and they’re eager to add to their armamentarium,” Dr Nathwani said. “We wanted a company that was long-term invested in ALS. We knew it would find a home where their people are interested in taking it forward.”

Other collaborations coming on

The other collaborations are progressing well, including the Novo Nordisk deal, in which Dewpoint is putting its discovery platform to work in the identification of drug candidates to treat insulin resistance and diabetic complications.

“We are finding new things that they are excited about,” Dr Nathwani said. “We can turn their genetics data into brand new targets which they otherwise would not have recognized.

“So, that’s going extremely well, and Novo has also partnered with us on doing some leveraging of our technologies separate to the discovery partnership, leveraging our screening technologies to test that out for looking at targets that they’re interested in.

“With Bayer we are in discussions as well. They liked the first licensing, that is progressing really well, and we expect, hopefully next year, that we will have made more progress on one of the targets that we’re working on together.”

The model that Dewpoint can offer to these big pharma companies is particularly important at a time when they are struggling with R&D productivity and cannot keep abreast of all scientific developments.

“A biotech like Dewpoint has a platform and an approach to accelerate innovation in pharma,” Dr Nathwani said. “That’s something that we want to showcase. The Bayer model is an example, the Novo model is an example, where they don’t have to build this capability in-house. What we do is service their ability to create multiple drug targets, as a factory for innovation research on small molecules for them, in a particular given therapeutic area.

“They can then apply the muscle which they have, the infrastructure on drug development and eventually commercialization."

Pharma partnerships propel progression of internal pipeline

This partnering approach, by generating potentially billions in upfront fees and potential milestone payments, feeds into Dewpoint’s plans for its own oncology pipeline. Promising signs from its preclinical research in gastric cancer include complete responses in half of animals tested and regression of tumors.

“One of the things we’ll be looking to do next year is to open up other partnering opportunities for new areas,” Dr Nathwani said.

“We want to maintain our own pipeline in oncology, and we’re excited about that. There’re so much opportunity in the condensate space that we’re basically target rich and cash poor. It’s a private company, and that’s why partnering for us makes sense, we can showcase our technology and work with big pharma to accelerate their innovation, at the same time as bringing in cash for us to keep our pipeline growing in the cancer space.”

Dewpoint will be looking to raise capital as well and is now embarking on a Series D round, which will fund its lead program in oncology through to proof-of-concept (POC).

The company plans to do the capital raise by the middle of next year and then start its clinical program, with a potential read-out in 2027 as a definitive clinical POC.

“At that point, we’ll see how the markets are, and if data looks compelling, go public at that point,” Dr Nathwani said.

Companies featured in this story

More ones to watch >


Today's issue

Company Spotlight





More Features in Biotechnology