Oncode Accelerator launched: patient central to innovative cancer drug development

Discovering, developing and marketing a new drug takes a long time, is very risky and costs a lot of money. In addition, practice shows that a new treatment is often only effective in part of the patient population for which it was developed. Oncode Accelerator aims to address this problem by innovating the preclinical phase of therapy development. Friso Smit, co-executive director of Oncode Accelerator, says:

"In this early phase of development, we want to put the patient first. We do this through three innovation platforms: well-defined patient populations, organoid models derived from patients and predictive models based on artificial intelligence."  

By connecting more than 30 public and private parties, Oncode Accelerator brings together existing expertise in the Netherlands in four types of cancer therapies: small molecules, therapeutic antibodies, cell and gene therapies and therapeutic vaccines. "By weaving the three innovation platforms into this existing infrastructure, as it were, we think we can predict much earlier and better which patient will benefit from a new treatment," says Prof Miriam Koopman, internist-oncologist at UMC Utrecht. She is in charge of the platform that focuses on properly defining patient populations. "This is badly needed, it still happens too often to us as practitioners that we don't actually know whether a treatment we prescribe will work in a specific patient." By linking the preclinical development process to clinical practice, Oncode Accelerator increases the chances of drug candidates proving their worth in large-scale clinical trials.   

Impact on patient and economy 

The innovations that Oncode Accelerator will deploy should lead to better outcomes for patients. "Through so-called demonstration projects, candidate drugs will be developed based on our innovative way of working," Friso Smit explains. "The aim of these is twofold: to demonstrate that we are actually able to develop treatments more efficiently while delivering tangible results for patients." In addition, Oncode Accelerator is expected to have great economic impact. Fred Dom, CEO Saber Bio and chairman of the Oncode Accelerator Supervisory Board, concludes, "We have a unique opportunity with Oncode Accelerator to get innovative cancer treatments to patients faster, thereby reducing the 'time to market'. The resources made available to realise this ambition will make the Netherlands very attractive to (inter)national investors and to attract top talent." 

Building on Oncode Institute's strong foundation 

Oncode Instituut, together with other organisations, has taken the initiative to set up Oncode Accelerator, drawing on the reputation Oncode Instituut has built as an effective national partnership in cancer research and valorisation. Oncode Institute unites over 800 excellent basic cancer researchers from academic and medical institutions in the Netherlands to drive innovations in cancer diagnosis and treatment. Oncode Accelerator builds on the scientific foundation thus established to make an impact on cancer patients. Together, the two initiatives represent the first important steps towards the discovery and development of new therapeutic solutions for cancer.  

About Oncode Accelerator 

Oncode Accelerator is a unique national collaboration coordinated by six partners: Leiden University, Leiden University Medical Centre, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Princess Máxima Centre for Paediatric Oncology, University Medical Centre Utrecht and Oncode Accelerator Foundation. Oncode Accelerator improves and accelerates the development of new cancer therapies by involving the patient earlier in this process. The programme is a joint effort of more than 30 public and private partners from the oncology ecosystem. Oncode Accelerator is co-funded by the National Growth Fund and cooperates with the Ministries of Economic Affairs and Health, Welfare and Sport.