The goal of the project is to develop a technique to predict which patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are expected to have the best treatment results with Lipum's drug candidate SOL-116. In the first instance, this can provide the opportunity for selection of patients and clearer treatment results in future clinical trials. In the long run, it provides the opportunity for precision medicine where a diagnostic test (companion diagnostic) of the patient's biological characteristics predicts the expected response to the treatment. This can enable an effective and individualized treatment that reduces unnecessary suffering for the patient and increases the chances of obtaining a future market approval for SOL-116.

Age Labs AS, based in Oslo, is a cutting-edge epigenetics company focused on analyzing changes in immune cells and creating predictive algorithms intended to identify biomarkers for early disease detection and estimate risk of disease. Results from feasibility studies on Lipum's target molecule Bile Salt-Stimulated Lipase (BSSL) point to promising opportunities to achieve the project's goals.

Eurostars is part of the European Partnership for Innovative SMEs with support from the European Union through Horizon Europe. The project has a budget of approximately EUR 1.9 million and will run for two years and is funded to approximately 50% by grants from Vinnova and the Research Council of Norway.

We are very pleased to receive support from Eurostars in the face of tough competition. The funding and continued collaboration with Age Labs will open opportunities to select patients suitable for treatment with SOL-116. This is expected to be valuable in future clinical trials and could lead to a future offering of precision medicine with SOL-116 that can reach the market faster for the benefit of patients who lack good treatment options today," says Ola Sandborgh, CEO of Lipum.