This year the annual European Congress of Rheumatology (EULAR) is being held in Madrid, Spain. It is Europe’s largest congress for rheumatic diseases and one of the largest of its kind in the world. Umeå-based Lipum will be there to forge new collaborations, listen to the latest research and expand its growing network of contacts.
“This is a hugely important event to be seen at as the elite within rheumatological research will all be there”, says Einar Pontén, CEO of Lipum.
Lipum, which is located at the Umeå Biotech Incubator, is developing a biological drug for the treatment of chronic inflammation. The company was recently granted SEK 23 million from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program. It has also successfully attracted SEK 25 million in new investment.
Earlier preclinical studies have returned very good results and shown potential for providing better treatments of, for example, rheumatoid arthritis. In fact development of Lipum’s new treatment of rheumatoid arthritis is now so advanced human trials are expected to begin with the next year and a half.
Lipum has also received approval for its article ‘A novel target for treatment of inflammatory joint diseases’ to be featured in the congress program.
“It is an acknowledgment that our research and our product are getting noticed”, says Einar Pontén.
He added: “We hope our participation in EULAR will have a lot of positive knock-on effects. The drugs we’re competing with are some of the most successful in the world – so competition is fierce! However a third of all who use current medications get side effects and a third experience a decline in the effects of their treatment after just a few years. So there is a need for a new type of medicine, which is something we feel we’re able to contribute to”.
The founders and researchers behind Lipum are Olle Hernell, Susanne Lindquist and Lennart Lundberg.
