Under the terms of the agreement, Lipigon will collaborate with AstraZeneca, on discovery efforts and development of small molecules targeting LPL. AstraZeneca is responsible for clinical development and will have worldwide marketing and commercialization rights to any resulting products. Lipigon is eligible to receive up to $110 million in development and sales milestone payments.

This is the second research collaboration between Lipigon and Astra Zeneca. In a collaboration started in November 2014, the companies worked together to develop a high throughput assay by employing Lipigon's screening platform for the identification of small molecules that promote the stabilization of LPL.

"There is strong clinical, epidemiological and genetic support for targeting LPL. Mutations associated with enhanced LPL activity have been shown to confer protection against cardiovascular disease and LPL deficiency is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and elevated plasma lipid levels", said Stefan K Nilsson, CEO and cofounder of Lipigon Pharmaceuticals. "We believe that this alliance with AstraZeneca will allow us to deliver innovative, new effective medicines for millions of people at risk. It will contribute in fulfilling our mission to provide safe and effective treatments for patients with lipid disorders and other cardiometabolic risk factors, thus making a significant improvement in the quality of life and survival of these patients."

"This new collaboration with AstraZeneca is a significant achievement for Lipigon and recognizes the potential of our LPL drug discovery platform," says Lars Öhman, Lipigon's Chairman of the Board of Directors. " We are delighted to be embarking on this new collaboration and look forward to an exciting and productive relationship."

"Targeting LPL is central to our strategy in developing new medicines for patients with cardiovascular and metabolic disease and Lipigon's innovative approach complements our pioneering research in this challenging field. I am particularly pleased to see this new collaboration come to fruition as it could help to further strengthen the Nordic Life Science eco-system," says Marcus Schindler, VP, CVMD Innovative Medicines unit, AstraZeneca.

Watch Lipigon CEO Stefan K Nilsson on TV4. Segment starts at 2:45