The GLIOBREAK project has now been officially launched, marking the start of an important collaboration between Beactica Therapeutics and KU Leuven. Funded by the European Innovation Council, the project will advance the small molecule degrader BEA-17 and its companion diagnostic toward the next stage of development in glioblastoma research.
About glioblastoma (GBM)
GBM is the most common and most aggressive brain tumour. Approximately 35,000 people in the U.S. and Europe are diagnosed with GBM each year. The median overall survival is 15 months, and the five-year overall survival is only 5%.
About BEA-17
BEA-17 is a first-in-class small-molecule targeted degrader of lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1) and its co-factor CoREST. By enhancing antigen presentation, inducing viral mimicry, and reprogramming macrophages toward a pro-inflammatory state, BEA-17 restores immune activity within the tumour microenvironment. In syngeneic animal models of cancer, the candidate drug has shown promising potentiation of immune-modulating treatments across several cancer types, including anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors in colon cancer and standard of care treatment (temozolomide and radiation) in glioblastoma. Pharmacokinetic studies of BEA-17 show good blood-brain-barrier penetration and oral availability. BEA-17 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM). BEA-17 is wholly owned by Beactica Therapeutics.
About Beactica Therapeutics
Beactica Therapeutics AB is a privately held precision medicine company with a pipeline of novel small molecule therapeutics aimed at treating diseases with significant unmet medical need. Beactica’s approach is centered around the Eclipsor™ platform that enables the efficient development of allosteric modulators and targeted protein degraders. Beactica deliver value to patients and shareholders by advancing its programmes to clinical proof of concept. For more information, please visit www.beactica.com.
About KU Leuven
Three KU Leuven research teams, led by Prof. Frederik De Smet, Prof. An Coosemans and Prof. Thierry Voet, are collaborating to lay the groundwork for future clinical testing of BEA-17. Prof. De Smet’s team focuses on brain tumor biology and (spatial) single-cell profiling of GBM patient samples and coordinates the GLIOMATCH project, translating patient-derived insights into clinically relevant hypotheses. All single-cell and spatial profiling is embedded within the KU Leuven Institute for Single-cell Omics (LISCO), where Prof. Voet contributes leading expertise in advanced (spatial) single-cell technologies. As part of the KU Leuven Cancer Institute, these molecular insights are functionally tested by Prof. Coosemans’ team using state-of-the-art GBM mouse models and drug profiling platforms, providing a critical translational step toward the clinic. By integrating patient data, single-cell technologies and preclinical validation, this collaboration establishes a focused pipeline aimed at enabling the next generation of clinical testing for GBM at KU Leuven.
