Santero

Breaking the cycle

of chronic infections

First-in-class medicines that target the root cause

of treatment-refractory disease

The Challenge

When standard treatments stop working

Millions of patients worldwide live with chronic infections that resist repeated courses of treatment. In conditions like non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis (NCFB), bacteria establish persistent colonies deep within the lungs, driving a relentless cycle of infection, inflammation, and irreversible tissue damage.

Current therapies manage symptoms but cannot reach the root cause: dormant bacteria that survive by switching off their metabolism and hiding from both the immune system and conventional medicines. These patients need a fundamentally different approach.

One master switch. Two mechanisms. A platform for chronic refractory disease.

Santero Therapeutics discovered a master switch that controls bacterial dormancy: the RelA/SpoT homolog (RSH) enzymes. By targeting these enzymes, our compounds aim to achieve two separate outcomes.

Direct Killing

Santero has developed small molecules with direct bactericidal activity, eliminating persistent bacteria that conventional treatments cannot reach.

Resensitisation

Santero has also identified small molecules that switch off bacterial dormancy, aiming to restore the effectiveness of existing therapies. Supporting standard-of-care antibiotics that have stopped working to start working again.

Platform Breadth

The RSH enzymes we target are conserved across virtually all bacterial species, but not found in mammalian species, limiting any potential safety concerns. Our platform has the potential to address multiple chronic and acute treatment-refractory conditions, from respiratory infections to orthopaedic and wound-related diseases.

Our Lead Programme

Non-Cystic Fibrosis Bronchiectasis (NCFB)

NCFB is a chronic lung disease affecting over nine million patients [MB1] in the US, Europe and China. Patients suffer repeated pulmonary exacerbations that progressively destroy lung function. Those with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa infection face the worst outcomes: three times higher mortality risk and significantly greater healthcare burden.

The first approved [MB2] NCFB therapy, launched in 2025, addresses the inflammatory component of the disease. But published Phase III data demonstrates that patients with chronic bacterial infection continue to exacerbate at high rates. Anti-inflammatory therapy alone hits a floor it cannot breach.

Santero is developing first-in-class medicines designed to break through that floor by targeting the underlying bacterial reservoir that drives the exacerbation cycle. Our approach works alongside existing therapies to deliver what neither can achieve alone.

Our Partners & Investors

Santero is backed by leading life sciences investors and supported by public funding bodies committed to addressing the global challenge of treatment-refractory infections.