Uppsala, Sweden – 12 Sep 2023
Beactica Therapeutics AB, the Swedish precision oncology company, today announced two appointments to its preclinical development team. Dr Anneli Hällgren will lead the preclinical development and Dr Carl Magnus Andersson will lead the CMC activities. The appointments are made in preparation for IND-enabling studies of preclinical candidate BEA‑17, a novel small molecule cancer immunotherapeutic agent under development by Beactica.
Dr Anneli Hällgren has more than 25 years of experience from drug development within several therapeutic areas and with emphasis on preclinical development strategies and on nonclinical regulatory documentation. During her career, Dr Hällgren has been responsible for documenting the nonclinical safety of numerous drugs entering clinical trials, several of which have reached the market. Her career began at AstraZeneca, where she worked as a safety pharmacologist and preclinical project manager. Since then, she has held executive development positions at companies such as KaroBio, Biolipox and Melacure Therapeutics and is currently acting as an independent consultant in preclinical drug development. Dr Hällgren holds an M.Sc. in Pharmacy and a Ph.D. in Physiology from the Medical Faculty at Uppsala University.
Dr Carl-Magnus Andersson has more than 35 years of experience from drug discovery and development and has held senior positions within a number of pharma and biotech companies, including AstraDraco, Acadia Pharmaceuticals, and KaroBio, where he has been responsible for the chemical and pharmaceutical sciences and also intellectual property strategies. During his career, Dr Andersson has managed the process development and manufacture of a variety of small molecules for clinical trials. He was for example lead chemist during the development of pimavanserin, now marketed as Nuplazid® in the USA. He is associate professor of pharmaceutical chemistry and has co-authored more than 100 scientific papers and patent applications. Dr Andersson holds a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Preparative Organic Chemistry from Lund University. He is an Associate Professor in Organic Pharmaceutical Chemistry at Uppsala University.
“We are delighted to welcome Anneli Hällgren and Carl-Magnus Andersson to the Beactica team.” said Dr Per Källblad, CEO of Beactica Therapeutics. “Their extensive experiences will be very valuable as we accelerate the development of BEA-17 towards the clinic to make an impact for patients suffering from life-threatening cancers.”
About BEA-17
BEA-17 is a first-in-class small molecule targeted degrader (non-PROTAC) of lysine demethylase 1 (LSD1) and its co-factor CoREST. In syngeneic animal models of cancer, the compound has shown promising potentiation of immune-modulating treatments in several cancer forms, including anti-PD1 checkpoint inhibitors in colon cancer (CT26) and standard of care (temozolomide and radiation) in glioblastoma (GL261). Pharmacokinetic studies of BEA-17 show good blood-brain-barrier penetration and oral availability. BEA-17 is investigational and not approved anywhere globally. Its efficacy and safety in humans have not been established. BEA‑17 has been granted Orphan Drug Designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of glioblastoma (GBM).
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.
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