Running out of cash causes a dramatic 70% reduction in workforce due to a drop in dewpoint.
Dewpoint Therapeutics in Final Stages of Securing Series D Funding, Focuses on Lead Cancer Drug Development
Dewpoint Therapeutics, a Boston and Germany-based startup specialising in biomolecular condensates, is in the final stages of securing a private financing round, aiming to secure series D funding. This comes after the company announced significant downsizing and strategic consolidation, with about 70% of its workforce being laid off and operations being focused on its Boston site.
The layoffs were due to dwindling cash reserves and a high burn rate, despite having raised $287 million in previous funding rounds. Dewpoint's cash runway was expected to last only until the third quarter of 2025, although a new funding round was anticipated to close soon, no confirmation of additional financing beyond that has been publicly disclosed yet.
Following these changes, Dewpoint is refocusing its pipeline primarily on the clinical development of its lead candidate, DPTx3186, a beta-catenin inhibitor targeting the WNT signaling pathway in gastric cancer. The company plans to advance this drug into clinical trials by the end of 2025.
In addition, Dewpoint intends to maintain select partnerships in other programs. Notably, the company has collaborations with Mitsubishi Tanabe for ALS research, for which Mitsubishi Tanabe committed $480 million in upfront and milestone payments in December 2024. Dewpoint also has a partnership with Bayer Pharma for cardiomyopathy research, with Bayer inking a licensing deal worth $424 million for a disease-modifying candidate in October 2024.
In January, Dewpoint announced it would advance DPTX3496, an oral small-molecule condensate modulator, for colorectal cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, and non-small cell lung cancer. An Investigational New Drug application for DPTX3496 is planned for the second half of 2025.
Dewpoint Therapeutics raised $150 million in series C proceeds in February 2022. However, no series D funding materialized at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference last January. In a statement, CEO Ameet Nathwani confirmed a strategic consolidation of Dewpoint's business.
Despite the challenges, Dewpoint's focus on biomolecular condensates, membrane-less organelles linked to cellular organization, positions it uniquely to target diseases that arise from their dysregulation. This makes them potential therapeutic targets, as these condensates play crucial roles in various cellular processes, including gene regulation, signal transduction, and protein homeostasis.
With the anticipated third quarter of 2025 as a deadline for its current cash runway, Dewpoint is actively seeking series D funding to extend its financial runway. The company currently employs 91 people, suggesting that some 63 people could be losing their jobs due to the layoffs. After the consolidation, operations will be focused on Dewpoint's site in Boston.
- Dewpoint Therapeutics, with its focus on securing series D funding, aims to continue its finance-driven business growth and proceed with the lead cancer drug development in its industry.
- As Dewpoint Therapeutics refocuses on its lead candidate DPTx3186 and select partnerships in other programs, the company will prioritize the finance and business aspects necessary to advance its drug into clinical trials.
