Lipum on the financial statement and BIO-Europe
Biopharma company Lipum has published its year-end report for 2022 and recently returned from BIO-Europe. The company’s CEO Einar Pontén and Chairman of the Board Ulf Björklund participated to meet potential partners and present the progress in the clinical study with the drug candidate SOL-116. BioStock had a chat with Lipum’s CEO.
Lipum is developing a biological drug with a new target molecule and mechanism of action for the treatment of chronic inflammatory diseases. The company’s drug candidate, the therapeutic antibody SOL-116, blocks Bile-Salt Stimulated Lipase (BSSL), which is expected to inhibit inflammation.
A phase I SAD clinical trial with SOL-116 is currently underway, including both patients with rheumatoidarthritis (RA) and healthy volunteers. The primary goal is to establish safety and tolerance.
Financial statement for 2022
Recently, Lipum published both a press release and a year-end report in which the company announced that the safety study is progressing as anticipated. The fourth dose escalation has been completed and the subsequent safety evaluation paves the way for a higher dose in the fifth group, as planned. Lipum expects to be able to present the final report for the phase I study in the autumn of 2023.
Regarding the company’s financial status, Lipum carried out a directed share issue of 39 MSEK in the fourth quarter. The capital raise meant that it entered the new year with a cash balance of 32.8 MSEK. Read BioStock’s interview from November 2022 with Torgny Stigbrand, one of the investors in the issue here.
Participation at BIO-Europe
During the spring of 2023, Lipum has been fully focused on the ongoing study. However, the company also had time to participate at BIO-Europe Spring in Basel, Switzerland. With over 3500 participants, the event is a valuable opportunity to network and develop relationships with potential partners in the life science sector. According to Lipum, they see an increased interest in the company now when they have initiated the clinical study with SOL-116.
CEO Einar Pontén comments
BioStock contacted Lipum’s CEO Einar Pontén to learn more about the event and the progress of the company.
Einar, why was it important for Lipum to be present during BIO-Europe Spring 2023?
– Participation is a practical and effective way to meet both old and new contacts. We primarily met with other pharmaceutical companies and venture capital firms. Many of these we have already met before and then agreed to give feedback at this stage, when we have started clinical trials.
In the year-end report, you write about a nascent optimism in the biotechnology sector. What signs of that did you experience during BIO-Europe?
– Most people who are active in life science are long-term and work on plans that can span in time over periods of widely differing external factors. You hear between the lines that venture capital sees good investment opportunities now. But of course there are also those who are less cheerful and forced to postpone important activities. In general, everyone seems to be working as usual and looking ahead.
Finally, the phase I study continues according to plan – what activities await in the near term?
– We have two main activities. In addition to optimisation and planning for the clinical development, we put resources and commitment into continued preclinical studies to increase our knowledge of the mechanism of action of SOL-116’s interaction with the target protein BSSL. From this follows that we are also evaluating other indications, in addition to RA.
Learn more about Lipum on the company’s website: https://lipum.se/
The content of BioStock’s news and analyses is independent but the work of BioStock is to a certain degree financed by life science companies. The above article concerns a company from which BioStock has received financing.
