Beactica Contributes to Detailed Understanding of Innovative Cancer Drug

UPPSALA, Sweden, October 29, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Beactica, the Swedish drug discovery company with world-leading expertise in molecular interactions, today announced its contribution to a key paper in the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics*. As part of a collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim, Beactica scientists provided important insights into the interactions between afatinib (BIBW 2992) and members of the ErbB receptor family. The results presented in the paper provide a mechanistic rationale for the distinct pharmacological features of the compound and explain the clinical activity seen in some patients resistant to antibody or kinase inhibitor therapy.

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"There is a growing awareness in the pharmaceutical industry about the importance of interaction mechanism and kinetics for drug efficacy," said Beactica's CEO, Dr Per Källblad. "The results show that our scientific team is at the very forefront of this exciting field."

Beactica has established relationships with five of the global top-20 pharmaceutical companies as well as a growing number of biotech companies. The collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim is ongoing since 2008.

* Publication reference

Solca et al., Target binding properties and cellular activity of Afatinib (BIBW 2992), an irreversible ErbB family blocker, Journal of Pharmacologyand Experimental Therapeutics, 2012, 343:342-350. (DOI: 10.1124/jpet.112.197756).

About Beactica

Beactica AB is a specialist drug discovery company, utilising its proprietary methodologies to evaluate the interactions of molecules in order to generate novel and mechanistically defined therapeutics. The Company offers expertise and services in the area of SPR biosensor-based small molecule interaction analysis and partnerships for fragment-based lead generation using its proprietary Sprint™ platform. Founded in 2006 based on research carried out at Uppsala University and first-hand experience from the drug discovery industry, Beactica has established a robust reputation as the leader in SPR-based small molecule drug discovery. As well as providing services and building collaborations with external companies, Beactica is progressing its own drug discovery programmes. For more information, please visit http://www.beactica.com.