Lipigon recruits new talent after multi-million SEK deal

Life science company Lipigon Pharmaceuticals has recruited two new members of staff following the signing of a multi-million SEK agreement for its gene therapy project with listed Nordic company CombiGene.

The new appointments will bring additional knowledge and skills to the Umeå-based company that will help it reach project milestones in the years ahead.

“This agreement allows us to grow, which is great for us and for Umeå,” says Stefan K Nilsson, CEO of Lipigon.

Björn Eriksson joins Lipigon as Project Manager while Ingela Bergqvist will work as a Research Assistant. The pair, who officially took up their new posts in December last year, will both focus on Lipigon's gene therapy project, which was recently licensed in a major agreement with CombiGene.

“We will work with CombiGene for at least the next two years to develop a new gene therapy treatment for patients with lipodystrophy - a rare disease that means you partially or completely lack body fat. The consequence for patients is that the liver stores fat instead, which can lead to serious complications such as severe diabetes and early cardiovascular disease,” says Stefan K Nilsson, who continues:

“The idea for the treatment came from Lipigon and will now continue to be refined by us in Umeå with the help of our new colleagues. The agreement with CombiGene has the potential to be worth several million dollars if milestones in development and market launch are reached.”

Both Björn Eriksson and Ingela Bergqvist were recruited from biotechnology company Betagenon based in Umeå.

“It feels fantastic to work with Lipigon's gene therapy project. The early development phase in drug development is very exciting and laboratory-centred and it feels incredibly stimulating to be involved. I have worked with similar things before and so it will be fun to contribute with my experiences,” says Ingela Bergqvist.

“It feels challenging and rewarding to enter the field of gene therapy. We both have a background in diabetes research, which helps us fit in perfectly here. We bring with us 30 years of experience in drug development which I believe will benefit a young company like Lipigon,” says Björn Eriksson.

Lipigon is located at the Umeå Biotech Incubator and has a core team of around 10 people following the new appointments. The team works with product development in the company's three core projects, as well as with business agreements and financing.

“It's exciting to now have Ingela and Björn in place, as they can contribute with a great deal of expertise and experience in the industry. We are convinced that together we will form a great team. I see these appointments as positive for us and positive for Umeå and its growing life science industry,” says Stefan K Nilsson.

For more information, please contact:

Stefan K Nilsson, CEO, Lipigon
+46 705781768
stefan@lipigon.se

About Lipigon

Lipigon was founded 2010 by leading lipid experts from Umeå University in Sweden. Our mission is to develop safe and efficient treatments for lipid-related disorders in the orphan disease space where no or few approved treatments exist. In doing so we want to make a significant improvement to the survival rate and quality of life of patients.