EU Backs Step Pharma's Precision Attack on Gynecological Cancers

SAINT-GENIS-POUILLY, France – February 19, 2026 – French biotechnology firm Step Pharma has secured a significant blended finance award from the European Innovation Council (EIC), signaling strong European support for its pioneering approach to cancer treatment. The award includes a €2.5 million grant and up to €10 million in potential equity investment to accelerate the development of its lead drug, dencatistat, for specific, hard-to-treat gynecological tumors.

The funding will fast-track the drug's evaluation in patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers that have a specific genetic vulnerability, with new clinical trial cohorts expected to begin enrolling later this year. This move represents a critical step forward for a new class of precision oncology that aims to kill cancer cells while leaving healthy tissue unharmed.

“Being selected for an EIC Accelerator award is an important validation of our precision oncology approach,” said Andrew Parker, Chief Executive Officer of Step Pharma, in a statement. He noted the award will enable the company to advance dencatistat into expansion cohorts for gynecological cancers, where such initiatives can “play a key role in improving outcomes.”

The Science of Synthetic Lethality

At the heart of Step Pharma's strategy is dencatistat, a first-in-class, orally administered inhibitor of an enzyme called CTPS1 (Cytidine Triphosphate Synthase 1). This enzyme is crucial for synthesizing CTP, a fundamental building block for DNA and RNA that cancer cells need in large quantities to proliferate.

Most healthy cells have a backup enzyme, CTPS2, which can compensate if CTPS1 is blocked. However, a subset of cancers, including 15-20% of ovarian and endometrial tumors, are missing a functional CTPS2 gene. This genetic deficiency, known as being "CTPS2 null," makes these cancer cells entirely dependent on CTPS1 for their survival.

This dependency creates a powerful therapeutic opportunity known as "synthetic lethality." By selectively inhibiting CTPS1 with dencatistat, Step Pharma aims to starve only the CTPS2 null cancer cells of the CTP they desperately need, triggering their death. Healthy cells, with their functional CTPS2 backup, are expected to remain unaffected. This highly targeted mechanism holds the promise of delivering potent efficacy with significantly lower toxicity compared to traditional chemotherapies that indiscriminately attack all rapidly dividing cells.

A New Hope for Gynecological Cancers

The advancement of dencatistat offers a potential new lifeline for patients with specific types of ovarian and endometrial cancers, areas with significant unmet medical needs. While the treatment landscape has been transformed by targeted therapies like PARP inhibitors and immunotherapies, these are not effective for all patients, and resistance remains a major challenge.

Dencatistat's unique mechanism targets a distinct patient population defined by a clear genetic biomarker—the loss of CTPS2. The plan to launch Phase 1b expansion cohorts for these patients in 2026 is a pivotal step toward validating this approach in a clinical setting. Success in these trials could pave the way for a new, personalized treatment option for a substantial fraction of women battling these diseases.

The EIC funding will directly support these pivotal activities, including the expansion of the clinical trial and the manufacturing of dencatistat for larger, later-stage studies. A future cohort targeting CTPS2 null lung cancer is also in the planning stages, suggesting the platform's potential extends beyond gynecological malignancies.

Europe's Strategic Bet on Biotech

Securing an EIC Accelerator award is a major milestone, placing Step Pharma in an elite group of European innovators. The program is notoriously competitive, with success rates often in the single digits, and is designed to support breakthrough technologies with the potential to disrupt existing markets. The award serves as a powerful endorsement of both the scientific rigor behind CTPS1 inhibition and its commercial potential.

The EIC's 'blended finance' model, combining a non-dilutive grant with a potential equity stake, is specifically structured to help deep-tech companies navigate the perilous 'valley of death' between research and commercialization. Beyond the capital, the award grants Step Pharma access to the EIC’s Business Acceleration Services, providing invaluable strategic guidance, mentorship, and connections to a network of investors and corporate partners across Europe.

This investment highlights a broader European strategy to foster a robust and competitive biotechnology ecosystem capable of translating world-class science into tangible medical solutions. By backing companies like Step Pharma, the EU aims to retain and grow high-potential ventures on the continent, ensuring that European patients are among the first to benefit from next-generation therapies.

Building Momentum on a "Pipeline in a Product"

The EIC award comes during a period of significant momentum for Step Pharma. In October 2025, the company closed a €38 million Series C financing round, providing the capital to drive its ambitious clinical agenda forward. It also strengthened its leadership team with the appointment of Dr. Karen Smith as Chief Medical Officer.

Dencatistat is being pursued as a "pipeline in a product," with its single mechanism being tested across multiple diseases. The drug is already in a Phase 1/2 trial for patients with relapsed or refractory T-cell and B-cell lymphomas, a program that led to the U.S. FDA granting it Orphan Drug Designation for T-cell lymphoma in May 2025.

Furthermore, a Phase 1a dose-escalation study in patients with various solid tumors is ongoing. In a demonstration of adaptive clinical strategy, observations from the lymphoma trials, where dencatistat showed a manageable and reversible effect on platelet counts, prompted the initiation of a third clinical program for essential thrombocythaemia (ET), a rare blood disorder characterized by the overproduction of platelets.

This multi-pronged clinical strategy, now bolstered by the EIC's strategic investment, positions Step Pharma to thoroughly explore the therapeutic potential of CTPS1 inhibition. The fresh funding will be crucial for preparing for Phase 2 studies in gynecological cancers, including pivotal toxicology work and drug manufacturing, moving this promising targeted therapy closer to the patients who need it most.