Beactica Therapeutics Initiates IND-Enabling Studies for Novel Glioblastoma Treatment

UPPSALA, Sweden, Sept. 22, 2026 /CourierPR/ -- Beactica Therapeutics AB, a Swedish precision medicine company, has taken a significant step forward in its quest to develop a novel treatment for glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive primary brain tumour. The company has initiated IND-enabling studies for BEA-17, a first-in-class oral degrader of the epigenetic regulators LSD1 and CoREST. This advancement marks a critical milestone in the development of BEA-17, which is being developed as a precision immunotherapy for glioblastoma.

Glioblastoma is a formidable challenge in oncology, with a median overall survival of around 15 months, and the standard of care has remained largely unchanged for over two decades. The tumour's ability to maintain a profoundly immunosuppressive, immune-cold microenvironment has repeatedly thwarted attempts to develop effective immunotherapies. BEA-17 is designed to overcome this barrier by degrading LSD1 and its scaffolding partner CoREST, which enhances antigen presentation, induces viral mimicry, and reprograms macrophages towards a pro-inflammatory state. In preclinical models, BEA-17, when combined with standard of care, has shown substantial improvements in survival and produced durable tumour regression not observed with standard of care alone. Additionally, BEA-17 has potentiated anti-PD-1 checkpoint blockade in a preclinical model of colon cancer, a capability not seen with catalytic LSD1 inhibitors.

The IND-enabling programme for BEA-17 is being conducted under GLIOBREAK, a 30-month project supported by a EUR 2.5 million EIC Transition grant under Horizon Europe, which was announced in February 2026. Beactica expects to complete the IND-enabling programme and submit a Clinical Trial Application in the EU and/or an Investigational New Drug application to the US FDA in 2027. The programme includes GLP-compliant repeat-dose toxicology studies in rodent and non-rodent species, safety pharmacology, pharmacokinetic studies, and the manufacture of a traceable, fully documented batch of BEA-17 drug substance suitable for a Clinical Trial Application and a finalised oral clinical trial formulation.

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. The company's approach is centered around the Eclipsor™ platform, which enables the efficient development of allosteric modulators and targeted protein degraders.

The European Union, through the EIC Transition programme (grant agreement No 101292011), acknowledges the importance of this research, with views and opinions expressed not necessarily reflecting those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).