Uppsala, Sweden – 26 Sep 2023
Beactica Therapeutics AB, the Swedish precision oncology company, today announced that it has entered into a research collaboration agreement with the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS), one of 27 institutes and centers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). The collaboration will focus on the translation of novel proteolysis-targeting degraders of TEAD under development by Beactica for treatment of cancer.
Under the agreement, NCATS will gain access to proprietary targeted degraders of TEAD from Beactica to evaluate their efficacy in disease-relevant preclinical models. NCATS will also map systematically the drug-combination landscape for selected preclinical candidates by performing a high-throughput drug-combination screen using a collection of about 3,000 oncology-focused, mechanistically annotated drugs.
Pharmacological modulation of the Hippo signalling pathway has translational potential in both regenerative and oncology indications. Small-molecule modulators of the TEAD transcription factors have recently emerged as a novel anti-cancer drug-class, to specifically target Hippo-pathway-deficient cancers.
“We are very pleased to be selected by NCATS and look forward to collaborating with them to maximize the therapeutic potential of our targeted degraders of TEAD.” said Dr Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica Therapeutics. “Their extensive expertise and capabilities will accelerate our project’s progress, enhancing its potential to positively impact patients”.
About YAP–TEAD
YAP1 (Yes-associated protein 1) is a coactivator that together with TEAD 1–4 (TEA Domain) transcription factors play key roles in the Hippo signalling pathway that regulate cell proliferation, apoptosis, and stemness. Dysregulation of the Hippo pathway and subsequent activation of TEAD has been reported in a wide range of cancers such as squamous cell carcinoma, head and neck, gynaecological, and gastrointestinal cancers. The first clinical proof-of-concept for drugging the Hippo–YAP–TEAD pathway was recently achieved with the TEAD inhibitor VT3989, which was presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in April 2023.
About Beactica Therapeutics
Beactica Therapeutics AB is a privately held precision oncology company committed to the fight against cancer. The company is advancing a pipeline of novel small molecule therapeutics with a focus to treat genetically defined cancers with significant unmet medical need. Beactica’s approach is centered around targeting synthetically lethal disease proteins with 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.
Related files:
Read more news from Beactica Therapeutics here.
Stay Updated
Sign up for the Beactica newsletter to receive our latest news and updates