“The ecosystem itself is a huge asset”
– We started in 2024 as a spin out from Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University. Our two core technologies - HisTLAND® for histone modification profiling and MeTLAND® for DNA methylation profiling - are built on a shared chemistry we call the LAND platform. This platform lets us capture different layers of the epigenome at single-cell (and eventually spatial) resolution. In practice, that means we can help researchers and pharma partners see how gene regulation works in specific cells or subpopulations, rather than only getting an average picture of the whole sample. It's still early days for us, but our goal is to build the LAND platform as a versatile go-to technology for understanding the inner workings of our cells.
Why is epigenomics becoming such an important field for understanding health and disease?
– We've all heard of "genes" and how they control us and can determine things like hair colour, eye colour, height, metabolism etc. However, genes make up less than 2% of our DNA. The remaining 98%, called the epigenome, acts like a puppet master, determining when, where, and which genes get turned on or off, which is a huge amount of control. We now know that in most diseases, the epigenome’s function is disrupted, leading to erratic gene activation or deactivation. Therefore, understanding how the epigenome works in healthy states and how it gets disrupted in disease helps identify root causes and paves the way for more effective therapies and treatments.
NEXUS aims to make epigenomic profiling more accessible and scalable. What gap in today's research tools are you trying to solve?
– Many current methods focus on bulk profiling, which provides a broad, coarse overview of regulatory processes within a tissue. This is certainly powerful, but tissue is remarkably heterogeneous at the cellular level. Unmasking that heterogeneity requires far greater resolution, which is where single-cell sequencing comes in. Single cell epigenomics captures the detailed regulatory state of individual cells within a tissue. This has immense value for understanding disease, because researchers can pinpoint which specific cells or subpopulations (within a tumour, for example) are behaving erratically, which in turn makes targeted therapies more feasible. Single-cell resolution comes at a cost, though, and today it's often limited to research environments with large budgets. Our aim is to build a platform that provides maximum flexibility for plug-and-play use, so labs can add single-cell epigenomic profiling to their existing workflows without needing to overhaul their infrastructure or budget.
NEXUS is a spinout from research at Karolinska Institutet and Stockholm University. How has being part of Stockholm's life science ecosystem helped you build the company?
– It has helped massively. Stockholm, and Sweden more broadly, is a fantastic place to build a company. The KI Innovation Incubator, which we're part of, has provided excellent support, starting with the CATALYZER business bootcamp and continuing with business coaching, general support, and investor network access. We're also part of KI Science Park, which gives us access to a steady stream of networking events to meet researchers, investors, and potential customers through events such as LabLink, breakfast seminars, and roundtable discussions. Stockholm University has been equally supportive: they helped us secure our first lab space in the early days, and we were also housed at the SU Venture office in Villa Bellona, which allowed us to connect with other portfolio companies and attend frequent meetings with business coaches. Beyond the formal support, the ecosystem itself is a huge asset. Stockholm's life science scene is thriving, with many companies here, but it also feels tight-knit - you're rarely more than two or three connections away from anyone, which makes it easy to build your network or find people you can help (or who might be able to help you). In general, I've found that Sweden strongly supports entrepreneurship and offers many resources, aid, and benefits that early-stage startups can tap into to get off the ground.
AI, genomics, and precision medicine are all advancing rapidly. Where do you see epigenomics fitting into the future of healthcare over the next decade?
– Epigenomics is already moving from the fringes into mainstream healthcare, and most large pharma companies have at least one epigenetic drug in their pipeline. A major challenge in medicine is the variability in patient responses to treatment, which stems from inter-individual epigenetic variations. This cascades into suboptimal patient stratification for clinical trials, increasing failure rates. As a result, epigenetic screening is becoming increasingly important and is also being built into trial design and recruitment. That said, understanding epigenetic regulation is complex, as it has multiple interacting layers and feedback loops, which creates the need for advanced technologies in this space.
Mukund describes that he thinks about life science research as four cyclic steps:
- capturing biological information through experiments
- reading it out via sequencing
- analysing that data computationally
- generating biological insight that feeds back into the next round of experiments.
– Next-generation sequencing has largely solved the readout step, and AI has dramatically accelerated our ability to mine and interpret complex, high-dimensional epigenetic data, meaning we can generate better insights faster than ever. That means the bottleneck has shifted back to the first step: experimentation. This is where method development has the biggest opportunity right now, and it's where NEXUS sits - building technologies that capture multiple epigenetic layers in hundreds of thousands of cells simultaneously. Over the next decade, I expect healthcare to be shaped heavily by this combination: AI on one side, and technologies like ours generating the richer experimental data AI needs to work with, on the other, with the benefit trickling not just back into basic research, but into drug development and clinical trials as well.
What advice would you give to PhD students or postdocs who are considering turning their research into a startup?
– I obviously champion the entrepreneurial mindset, so I think it's great if an academic wants to turn their research into a startup. Sweden is also a good place to do this for several reasons, one being the teacher's exemption rule: Intellectual Property (IP) belongs to the researcher or inventor, not the institution. That already gives you a lot of power and incentive to start. In the life science and biotech space, IP is everything and carries tremendous value, so make sure you protect it early.
– Next, really think about the key problem your research or innovation solves. Who does it affect? How big is the problem? Remember, it should be painful enough that people will pay for your solution. This part is critical and often overlooked, as academia rewards curiosity and pushing the frontiers of knowledge, while business rewards financial returns. As a researcher, you may think your solution is the best thing ever, and people will be lining up to buy it (and maybe it is!), but often you need to really sit down and quantitatively and qualitatively chart out the actual merits, limitations, key applications, key users, and competitors to get a realistic picture. There are a lot of resources to help you get started - Innovation offices, Drivhuset, STING (to name a few) all offer excellent support.
– Jumping from academia straight into business means the learning curve is near-vertical, so go in knowing that, and be prepared for a bumpy but exhilarating ride. I often say there's never a boring day at a startup - Fun days? Definitely. Difficult days? Absolutely - but never boring!
Where is your favourite spot in Hagastaden?
– I spent the better part of a decade in Biomedicum, and my favourite place was always the rooftop terrace on the 10th floor. It has a beautiful view of Hagastaden, and was a great place to catch some fresh air, sun, and lunch with friends.
