Annual Progress Report
Public Summary 2022
Valorization -
9/11
Collaboration in person
One of the goals of Oncode Institute is to enable interdisciplinary research collaborations. To this end, Oncode launched a new initiative called ‘Oncode Accelerator Projects’ (OAPs) in 2021. The goal of OAPs is to form a multidisciplinary team that can uniquely address an unmet medical need or scientific challenge through innovative high risk-high reward approaches. The OAP initiated by Oncode Investigator Bas van Steensel of the Netherlands Cancer Institute is an inspiring example of the fruitful interdisciplinary collaboration that this may yield.
Valorization in person
Rebekka Schneider, Oncode Investigator and Associate Professor of Medicine at Erasmus MC, is on a mission to identify novel therapeutic targets for bone marrow fibrosis in patients with chronic blood cancer. In this interview, she discusses her team's achievements in recent years and the pivotal role that Oncode Institute has played in advancing her team’s research.
Rebekka Schneider
Oncode Investigator and Associate Professor of Medicine at Erasmus MC
Advancing Bone Marrow Fibrosis Research through Oncode Institute Support
Myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs) are a rare and chronic type of blood cancer that largely allows patients to maintain a relatively normal quality of life. They are characterized by excessive production of red blood cells, white blood cells, or platelets in the bone marrow. Over time, the disease can progress to bone marrow fibrosis, where blood-forming cells are replaced by scar tissue leading to a decline in the body's ability to produce blood cells. This progression significantly impacts the patients' quality of life and can result in complications and ultimately death.
Elaborating on her team's research focus, Schneider says "Our aim is to understand what happens in the pre-fibrosis stage, when the chronic blood cancer is present, but the scar tissue has not developed yet. The idea is to develop therapies which can inhibit the life-limiting fibrosis in patients with MPN. Thanks to the Oncode base fund, my team was able to identify a targetable biomarker – alarmin S100A8/S100A9 – which serves as both a predictive biomarker for fibrosis and a novel anti-fibrotic therapeutic target."
“Our aim is to understand what happens in the pre-fibrosis stage, when the chronic blood cancer is present, but the scar tissue has not developed yet.”
Schneider's team published a paper in Cell Stem Cell demonstrating that tasquinimod, an experimental drug initially tested for prostate cancer, reduces bone marrow fibrosis in an experimental mouse model. Their research findings indicate that tasquinimod treatment led to normalized blood counts, reduced fibrosis in the bone marrow, and restored spleen size in the mice.
Recognizing the potential of their research, Schneider sought assistance from Oncode's valorization team.
"We had collected substantial data and insights, so I decided to involve Oncode's valorization team. They helped us connect with Active Biotech, the producer of tasquinimod, and facilitated a global patent license agreement. Moreover, we received funding from the Oncode Clinical Proof of Concept Fund, which has allowed us to set up a clinical trial – HOVON clinical trial HO172 – for which we plan to recruit patients later this year. The Oncode valorization team has been instrumental in guiding us on how to translate our research findings into tangible patient impact, and are always open to discussing any ideas we come up with. Their assistance has been invaluable," she says.
