Nucleome Therapeutics moved into the BioEscalator in August 2019, just a month after its incorporation. The company spun out from the University of Oxford and started in a 22m2 lab with only one employee, its CEO and co-founder, Dr Danuta Jeziorska. Dr Jeziorska, along with co-founders Jim Hughes, Professor of Gene Regulation at the University of Oxford, and Dr James Davies, Associated Professor at the University of Oxford, started Nucleome Therapeutics to uncover novel ways to treat diseases for patients in need by decoding the dark matter of the human genome.
Nucleome has developed an innovative platform technology with the unique ability to connect disease-linked variants in the genome's dark matter to gene function and thereby map disease pathways. The cell type-specific platform creates high-resolution 3D genome structure maps, enabling variant functional validation in primary cell types at scale. This allows Nucleome to discover and develop better and safer drugs guided by genetics.
In 2020, Nucleome redirected its scientific expertise and business plans and, together with collaborators from Oxford University's MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, put its knowledge into action to develop a sample pooling approach for SARS-CoV-2 detection.
In November 2021, Nucleome's founders published a paper in Nature Genetics identifying a gene that potentially doubles the risk of death from COVID-19. Furthermore, the technology used to identify this gene has been exclusively licensed to Nucleome, highlighting the competitive advantage of Nucleome's platform in discovering genetic targets for innovative precision medicine development.
Nucleome's steady growth over the three years as a BioEscalator tenant means that the company has outgrown its lab space. With 20 employees and counting, the company has graduated from the BioEscalator and moved into new space in the Schrodinger Building at The Oxford Science Park.
The BioEscalator looks forward to following Nucleome's further growth and scientific advancements.