Bridge fund 101: The Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund (OBF), managed by Oncode B.V., is an investment fund of €7.2M that provides pre-seed and seed capital to commercially viable enterprises originating from within the Oncode community, to support in translating their research ideas into attractive investment opportunities. This can include new therapeutic interventions, diagnostic screening tools and services, biomarkers, and research tools or services that will benefit either cancer patients or cancer research in general. The OBF primarily helps prepare new enterprises for follow-on investment from venture capital firms.

In 2022, two new ventures – Cell Control and Simmunext Biotherapeutics – were incorporated. With committed investment capital amounting to €1.1M to three of OBF’s spin-off companies, the total committed investment capital to date amounts €2.6M. With an invested capital total of €0.6M in 2022,  the total invested capital to date is €1.7M. 

Furthermore, 2022 marked a year of success for two of our portfolio companies. Cyclomics successfully completed its seed financing round, enabling establishment of proof-of-concept for novel genetic technologies. The collaborative CPoC project with the De Ridder lab of UMC Utrecht was successfully completed, establishing proof of concept for the CyclomicsSeq technology in a clinical setting and laying the foundation for a multi-year collaboration and license agreement with Oxford Nanopore Technologies to develop the assay towards clinical implementation.

Finally, the first successful exit for Oncode B.V. was generated, by fully divesting the investment in Single Cell Discoveries. Oncode BV invested in Single Cell Discoveries in 2019, and since then the company grew remarkably under the leadership of founders Mauro Muraro and Judith Vivié. 

Since its launch, the OBF has invested in seven companies, together employing 32 FTEs in December 2022. The OBF currently has an active portfolio of six companies, with a full pipeline of new investments expected in the coming years. While the current fund is expected to run until 2025, OBF Fund Manager Shobhit Dhawan and Oncode Valorization Director Chris De Jonghe are drawing up plans for a follow-up fund OBF-2. With Oncode’s growing ambitions and expanding pipeline of potential spin-offs, Dhawan and De Jonghe envisage that the OBF-2 fund will be extended in size and scope, and will be established as an independently operating fund with close links to Oncode Institute. 

Following the launch of Immagene and Oncosence from the NKI in 2020 and 2021 respectively, Oncode and the NKI launched their third spin-off – Cell Control – in 2022. Cell Control is a company based on findings from the lab of OI Ton Schumacher that will further develop engineered cell therapy products addressing hard-to-treat solid and liquid oncological malignancies. The company is currently led by CEO Ali Can Sahillioğlu, former PhD student in the Schumacher lab.

In 2022, the OBF closed an investment in a new Oncode Institute and Radboud UMC spin-off – Simmunext Biotherapeutics. Simmunext will further develop a polymer technology conceived in the lab of Oncode investigator Carl Figdor, to build a pipeline of precisely targeted T cell therapies designed to better recognize and attack cancer.

Affordable Health Care 101: Oncode is dedicated to contributing to the affordability and sustainability of cancer healthcare solutions. It aims to do so by leveraging its expertise and position in the valorization value chain to ensure affordable health care (AHC) obligations are included in all applicable Oncode activities. Oncode’s AHC efforts are integrated throughout its scientific, collaborative and valorization strategies. This includes providing education and creating awareness, managing dedicated funds and programs aimed at supporting research that focuses on reducing healthcare costs, initiating Health Technology Assessments, and applying socially responsible licensing guidelines.

Reflecting on Phase 1, Oncode has met its objective to invest at least 20% of its clinical portfolio in AHC-related activities, with 47% of projects and 32% of allocated funding directed at the development of AHC-enabling innovations. The Drug Repurposing program was initiated and has so far enabled 19 projects of which eight full screenings, while the TechDev Fund supported six early Health Technology Assessments. Furthermore, Oncode contributed to development of the NFU’s toolkit for Socially Responsible Licensing (SRL) and since establishment of the toolkit is committed to applying SRL principles to all its licensing activities. 

As reflected in its Key Performance Area’s (see section 6), Oncode set itself the objective of allocating at least 20% of the activities supported by Oncode’s clinical programs to clinical activities focused on affordable and sustainable healthcare solutions, i.e. related to personalized medicine (patient stratification) or drug repurposing. In Phase 1, Oncode’s clinical program consisted of the CPoC program (16 projects) as well as the Oncode Affordable Health Care call in collaboration with ZonMw conducted in 2019 (one project). In line with the set Phase 1 objectives, €3M (equating to 32% of the clinical program funds) were allocated to AHC activities. Of 17 projects, eight (47%) contribute to AHC principles, with four projects investigate solutions enabling patient stratification, and four projects are focused on drug repurposing.

Drug repurposing provides an effective approach to rapidly identifying novel indications for known drugs and compounds. To support researchers in bringing novel therapeutic applications to patients at affordable cost, Oncode has acquired a next-generation Drug Repurposing Library containing ~6,000 candidate drugs in various stages of clinical development (abandoned, off-patent, launched, etc.). To enable all Oncode researchers to access the library, Oncode set up the Drug Repurposing program. This program funds drug repurposing compound screens and provides access to the technical infrastructure and expertise required to perform the screens. Two centers, embedded in LUMC and NKI, have extensive drug screening expertise and are able to provide researchers with tailored guidance and support as well as access to a multitude of assays. In addition, copies of the library can be provided to both Oncode and non-Oncode researchers who have the means and expertise to perform the screens themselves.

In 2022, five new applications were approved and eight projects were completed. Since the program’s establishment in Q4 2019, 19 applications have been approved, of which eight were full screening programs and 11 were library only (six OI labs, five external). In Phase 2, Oncode will continue to support drug repurposing activities within oncology by providing access to the Drug Repurposing Library.

The Socially Responsible Licensing (SRL) guidelines and toolkit offer Dutch knowledge institutions a common basis for discussions with other parties about the future use of their intellectual property. The SRL-toolkit pays explicit attention to societal objectives, such as the effective availability of products and services. Oncode contributed to setting up the policies and toolkit of the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) and was among the first institutes to endorse them. Oncode is committed to its obligation to apply its best efforts to incorporate the NFU SRL principles in all license agreements it negotiates.

In 2022, Oncode concluded three license agreements, in which SRL principles were applicable to two. The SRL guidelines were incorporated for both applicable agreements, with the third license involving a research tool. Challenges are encountered, for example where industry parties consider these principles a deal-breaker such as in cases where they will provide an in-kind contribution to an investigator-initiated clinical trial. 

Oncode aims to address the cost effectiveness of drugs at a very early stage in their development. To achieve this, the Oncode TechDev Fund supports early Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) for certain projects. These early HTAs measure the added value of a new treatment in terms of cost implication and its impact on the healthcare system and patient compared to the current standard of care, for example in relation to treatment efficiency, side effects and impact on quality of life. HTAs are typically used by health authorities and policy makers as an evidence-based auxiliary method to inform reimbursement decisions about new treatments. Conducting an HTA is typically only implemented by drug developers in the late stages of development. Oncode, in collaboration with THINc of UMC Utrecht, is pioneering the implementation of early HTA analyses at a very early stage of drug development to help determine a drug’s cost-sensitivity throughout the entire drug development cycle and guide/adjust development routes accordingly. 

Over the course of Phase 1, Oncode has supported six early HTA studies, of which five were completed and one study is ongoing. The outcomes have already provided guidance for Oncode’s decision process for future project development/investments. Oncode will continue to invest in HTA activities in Phase 2, aiming to have each newly approved CPoC project accompanied by an early HTA.