Beactica Secures €2.5 Million EIC Grant to Advance First-in-Class Glioblastoma Therapy BEA-17 Toward Clinical Trials
Key Insights
Beactica Therapeutics (search) and KU Leuven received a prestigious €2.5 million European Innovation Council (search) grant to advance BEA-17, a first-in-class LSD1 (search)-CoREST (search) degrader for glioblastoma (search) treatment.
The 30-month GLIOBREAK project aims to complete IND-enabling studies and submit regulatory applications to FDA or EMA for first-in-human trials.
BEA-17 has demonstrated promising preclinical results by restoring immune activity in tumor microenvironments and shows good blood-brain barrier penetration with FDA Orphan Drug Designation.
Beactica Therapeutics (search) AB, a Swedish precision medicine company, has secured a €2.5 million grant from the European Innovation Council (search) (EIC) in partnership with KU Leuven to advance BEA-17, a first-in-class targeted protein degrader for glioblastoma (search), toward clinical trials. The funding represents a significant milestone for addressing one of oncology's most challenging malignancies.
Competitive Grant Award Validates Innovative Approach
The GLIOBREAK project was selected from 611 proposals in what the EIC described as its most competitive Transition call ever, with only 40 proposals receiving funding. The non-dilutive grant covers 100% of project costs over 30 months and aims to advance BEA-17 from validated laboratory stage to early clinical readiness.
"We are delighted to receive this prestigious EIC Transition award together with our eminent collaborators at KU Leuven," said Dr. Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica Therapeutics (search). "It is a significant validation of our immuno-epigenetic approach to glioblastoma (search), a disease with devastating outcomes where patients urgently need new therapeutic options."
Novel Mechanism Targets Epigenetic Machinery
BEA-17 represents a first-in-class small-molecule targeted degrader of lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1 (search)) and its co-factor CoREST (search). The drug's mechanism involves enhancing antigen presentation, inducing viral mimicry, and reprogramming macrophages toward a pro-inflammatory state, thereby restoring immune activity within the tumor microenvironment.
Preclinical studies have demonstrated BEA-17's ability to potentiate immune-modulating treatments across several cancer types. In syngeneic animal models, the compound showed promising results when combined with anti-PD-1 checkpoint inhibitors in colon cancer (search) and with standard-of-care treatment (temozolomide and radiation) in glioblastoma (search) models.
Strong Pharmacological Profile Supports Clinical Development
Pharmacokinetic studies reveal that BEA-17 exhibits good blood-brain barrier penetration and oral bioavailability, critical properties for treating brain tumors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has already granted BEA-17 Orphan Drug Designation for glioblastoma (search) treatment, providing regulatory advantages for development.
The GLIOBREAK project builds on results from the ongoing EU-financed GLIOMATCH project and targets completion of IND-enabling studies. The collaboration aims to submit regulatory applications to either the FDA or European Medicines Agency, positioning BEA-17 for first-in-human clinical trials.
Addressing Critical Unmet Medical Need
Glioblastoma (search) represents the most common and aggressive brain tumor, with approximately 35,000 new diagnoses annually across the U.S. and Europe. Current treatment options remain inadequate, with median overall survival of just 15 months and five-year overall survival of only 5%.
The partnership integrates Beactica's Eclipsor™ platform for developing targeted protein degraders with KU Leuven's expertise in brain tumor biology. Three KU Leuven research teams led by Professors Frederik De Smet, An Coosemans, and Thierry Voet are collaborating to develop companion diagnostics and validate the therapeutic approach using advanced single-cell technologies and state-of-the-art glioblastoma (search) mouse models.
Precision Medicine Approach with Companion Diagnostics
The GLIOBREAK project encompasses development of a biomarker-driven companion diagnostic based on research from Professor De Smet's team at KU Leuven. This integrated therapeutic-diagnostic approach positions the program at the forefront of immuno-epigenetic therapies for glioblastoma (search), representing a precision medicine strategy for patient selection and treatment optimization.
The collaboration leverages KU Leuven's Institute for Single-cell Omics (LISCO) and Cancer Institute resources to translate patient-derived insights into clinically relevant hypotheses, establishing a comprehensive pipeline for next-generation glioblastoma (search) clinical testing.