– We are very pleased for this exciting opportunity to work together with Secarna, bringing forward what we believe will be the most powerful plasma lipid lowering agent on the market, says Lipigon CEO and co-founder Stefan K. Nilsson.
The two companies have a strong expertise in two very exciting fields, and the combination may very well be a game-changer in the field of lipid-lowering medication.
– This agreement utilizes Secarna’s state of the art next generation antisense platform technology and our lipid biology expertise. The lead time from choosing targets to actually validating the product candidate is exceptionally short, therefore the antisense approach is extremely attractive to us, adds Stefan K. Nilsson.
Aiming at broad spectrum of metabolic-related diseases
The potential disease targets for Lipigon and Secarnas cooperation span from very rare diseases to global public health epidemias like cardiovascular disease. A new drug in this field could help people suffering from Familial Chylomicronemia Syndrome (FCS) or Homozygote Familial Hypercholesterolemia, with only around 3-5000 patients worldwide, to millions affected by cardiovascular complications, metabolic liver disease and kidney disease.
There are over 60 million patients at risk of lifelong diesese due to dyslipidemia in the G7-countries alone. Only 12 percent of high risk patients meet their combined plasma lipid goals.
Antisense technology opens up new treatement approaches
Antisense technology significantly expands the alternatives of potentially druggable targets and is currently experiencing strong growth. Well over 100 clinical trials are ongoing or have been completed recently. With several drug approvals during 2016 – the definitive breakthrough of this technology is fast approaching.
– Targeting lipid disorders via antisense oligonucleotides is an extremely attractive proposition, commented Secarna’s CEO Jonas Renz.
– We are delighted to leverage Lipigon’s unique insights into lipid biology and apply our proprietary platform to generating highly potent and safe lead molecules, he adds.
Original news story at: www.lipigon.se/news
About Secarna Pharamceuticals
Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Marburg and Munich, Germany, Secarna is a leading antisense drug development company. Secarna’s expertise spans the entire pre-clinical drug discovery and development process from proprietary bioinformatic analysis and molecule engineering to high throughput in vitro and in vivo screening systems. The company currently has over ten ongoing projects in various therapeutic areas, including immuno-oncology, immunology, ophthalmology, fibrosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and anti-viral therapeutics. For more information please visit: www.secarna.com
About Lipigon Pharmaceuticals
Lipigon is a spin out from Umeå University in Sweden with offices in Umeå and Gothenburg. The company was founded by leading scientists in the field of cellular lipid transport. Lipigon is focusing on the discovery and development of novel treatments for lipid disorders and related diseases. For more information please visit: www.lipigon.se
