Nordic Life Science 1
INTERVIEW // MALA VALROY Despite international tu
rbulence and news of life sciences and research funding disruptions in the US, investment in innovative life sciences projects continues, according to Mala Valroy, an investment manager with Industrifonden, one of Sweden’s largest evergreen venture capital (VC) funds. T E X T B Y EL L EN R . DEL I S I O A LL VCS ARE TRYING to understand the ramifications of the recent economic and regulatory upheavals, and the Nordics are no different, says Valroy, whose interests include deeptech startups with global reach and market-making potential. Among her areas of interest are health technology, clean technology, and biotechnology. Other specialties outside of life sciences include artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, autonomous transport, Industry 4.0, and the Internet of Things. “We're still trying to adjust to the impacts of COVID-19, so this amplifies a lot of the conservative behaviors we began to see after 2020,” she adds. Navigating the changes With the US research landscape uncertain, the Nordics and other countries are turning to other outlets says Valroy. “The US has often been the go-to market for both commercialization and exits for Nordic investors, and now we need to rethink that strategy,” she says. “VCs and startups will be looking to conserve cash as we navigate the changes, so there will likely be fewer and smaller rounds. I can imagine new founders may hesitate to start something, and limited partnerships will prefer established funds over emerging ones. There definitely will be a dip in the deal flow and the capital in the near term,” she adds. The current venture funding landscape is evolving, which any biologist will confirm is the right strategy, Valroy says, “I think everyone is collectively holding their breath, trying to see the macro (picture).” At the same time, she characterizes her medium-tolong-term view of VC opportunities as optimistic. “I'm seeing a lot of concerted and intentional effort going into course-correcting and building local resilience,” she adds. The Nordics currently have a flywheel effect of experienced life science founders who've successfully exited and are ready to build something new, Valroy continues. “We have patient capital and sizeable investments, including the substantial endowments made by Novo Nordisk into the ecosystem. Securing our pipeline of new therapies, food, and production is an area of mutual interest for the growing defense-focused funds and traditional life science VCs. Governments are revisiting allocations to grants at the local and European Union level,” she says. AI and molecular tools For this year, Valroy expects the industry focus to be on using AI to refine clinical trials and researchers to be making deeper dives to not just identify parts of cells but also their locations and functions. “I think people are exhausted of hearing about AI,” she says, “but I see it used in very niche applications. For example, I see a lot of use for it in the translation from animal studies to human, which is where most clinical trials fail.” Other exciting discoveries include insights into the contextual expression and localization of DNA, RNA, and proteins in cells. “We’re seeing breakthroughs in certain molecular details,” Valroy says. “We can get spatial information that was previously unavailable. We’re not just seeing what and how much is being expressed, but how the transcription or translation is happening in relation to organelles and how proteins are organizing on the cell surface. At this very moment, for example, is the RNA near the Golgi apparatus or somewhere else in the cytoplasm, and are cell surface proteins clustering on one side of a cell or evenly dispersed? It’s the difference NORDICLIFESCIENCE.ORG | 59