Impact on the economy

Strategic activities 2024

In 2024, Oncode Institute made significant progress. We filed a record number of patents, and our researchers reported many new discoveries. These form the basis for developing new products in collaboration with companies or through spin-offs. Thanks to our proactive valorisation team, we can identify new technologies and ideas from research results more quickly. The result is a growing portfolio that attracts companies, often in public-private partnerships with the researchers.

At the same time, this approach lays the foundation for creating new spin-offs. Thanks to collaborations with companies and participation in important conferences, we increase the visibility and value of our innovations. By working with initiatives such as Oncode Accelerator and Biotech Booster, we accelerate further development of our technologies and their commercial rollout.


With the addition of Oncode Accelerator, Oncode Institute strengthened its collaboration with Cancer Research Horizons (a wholly owned subsidiary of Cancer Research UK). During the Dutch economic mission to the United Kingdom, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in the presence of Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Reinette Klever. This strengthens our international collaboration in the field of expertise and innovative technologies.

Public-private partnership

Oncode Accelerator is a public-private partnership funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund. The initiative brings together six coordinating partners: Leiden University, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Princess Máxima Center, UMC Utrecht, and the Oncode Accelerator Foundation.

Mario van der Stelt

Oncode Investigator

“The business development team at Oncode Institute has played a key role in increasing the impact of my research by coordinating important valorisation activities. Thanks to their support, my interactions with industry have been much more efficient. This has led to valuable collaborations and paved the way for translating scientific discoveries into concrete commercial opportunities. These benefit both the economy and the healthcare sector.​​​​​​​”

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Results

In 2024, our valorisation activities resulted in no fewer than 47 new inventions and 25 new patent applications – the highest number we have ever achieved in a single year. In addition, we initiated six new projects with the Technology Development (TechDev) Fund. Furthermore, twelve previously started TechDev projects were completed and reached the next development phase. An important example of this is the development of an organoid model for the retina, which arose from the collaboration between the Organoid group of the Hubrecht Institute and Maastricht University. Following this TechDev project, a 2 million euro Biotech Booster project was initiated.


The rights to nine inventions were licensed or taken under option by companies in 2024, a crucial step towards further development and clinical application. Collaboration with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies is an essential driver of innovation, and we facilitate this at an early stage of scientific research. We launched seventeen new public-private partnerships with industry partners ranging from small start-ups based in the Netherlands to large multinationals, all of which are investing in Dutch cancer research. Recent winning of the ‘Lifescience@Work Venture Challenge’ by Sniper Therapeutics – an Oncode affiliated and supported venture – underlines the quality of the group’s business case and its promising step towards becoming a spin-off.

Anne Rios

Oncode Investigator

“Oncode Institute has proven time and again to be invaluable to the advancement of groundbreaking research. The institute’s support and expertise were crucial in developing the business case for our upcoming spin-off, Sniper Therapeutics. Thanks to the strategic insights we gained, we were able to enrich T-cell therapy with the most powerful tumour-targeting mechanisms.”

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In 2024, the Oncology Bridge Fund established two promising spin-offs: sCellGen and Polar Oncology. The Oncology Bridge Fund also played a key role in the achievement of important milestones by other spin-offs in our portfolio, including Laigo Bio, Flindr Therapeutics, and Cell Control. Thanks to strategic investments from international venture capitalists and the support of the Oncology Bridge Fund, these companies experienced substantial growth in 2024.

Jop Kind
Oncode Investigator

“This year, we launched sCellgen, a spin-off based on the MAbID technology developed in our lab. The launch was made possible in part by support from the Base Research Fund. Developing early-stage, high-risk technology is often difficult to finance. Oncode Institute’s commitment to such innovations underscores the institute’s unique value within the Dutch oncology landscape.”

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What is the Oncode Institute Oncology Bridge Fund?

The Oncology Bridge Fund helps Oncode Investigators translate groundbreaking cancer research into concrete patient applications more quickly. The fund supports establishment and growth of start-ups that emerge from Oncode Institute research and intend to develop new treatments, diagnostics, or research tools.


As an investment fund, the Oncology Bridge Fund offers early-stage financing (pre-seed and seed) to promising companies. In this way, Oncode Institute helps to further develop scientific ideas and products until they reach a stage where they are attractive for follow-up financing.


Every euro invested by the Oncology Bridge Fund generates an average of fourteen euros in external investments. In 2024 alone, participating companies attracted more than 30 million euros in follow-up investments. This will enable these companies to expand their teams, further develop their products, and increase their social impact.

Impact & future

Economic impact: Oncode Institute accelerates innovation

Oncode’s proactive valorisation from the start of a research line results in a well-filled portfolio of technologies and therapeutics. Oncode Institute successfully deploys strategic resources to accelerate development and increase the chances of reaching the market and patients. The TechDev Fund is a powerful tool for stimulating commercial technology development. 

This approach has led to the validation of therapeutic strategies and developed technologies or, through early Health Technology Assessments, to valuable insights into the potential cost-effectiveness and feasibility of implementation. Looking across the board, the results from TechDev projects formed the basis for establishing 11 spin-offs, the clinical evaluation of nine innovations, and the granting of nine licences to commercial partners for the commercialisation of technologies and intellectual property.


Establishing and investing in the eleven spin-off companies attracted additional funding from home and abroad. It not only resulted in a financial boost, but also in the creation of around 60 valuable jobs. Valorisation, proactive involvement of companies, strategic resources for IP protection, technology development, and spin-off creation create leverage, attracting investments from national and international private parties.


In 2024, companies invested 3.3 million euros in scientific research by Oncode Investigators, and private investors invested no less than 28.9 million euros in Oncode Institute spin-off companies, and consequently in the Dutch oncology ecosystem. These initiatives contributed to stronger innovative power in the Netherlands and put Oncode Institute on the map as a driver of economic progress in healthcare. The outlook for the future is promising, with collaboration with industry partners and the growing commercialisation of our projects remaining essential steps in strengthening our economic impact.

Managementsamenvatting

Een jaar van versnelling, verbinding en impact

Oncode Institute brengt al sinds 2018 Nederlandse topwetenschappers en partnerinstituten samen om baanbrekend kankeronderzoek sneller te vertalen naar klinische toepassingen.

Ook in 2024 boekte Oncode Institute tastbare vooruitgang in haar missie om kanker te slim af te zijn. Met een unieke combinatie van excellente wetenschap, intensieve samenwerking en proactieve valorisatie, versnelde Oncode Institute de vertaalslag van fundamentele ontdekkingen naar toepassingen die impact hebben op patiënten en de samenleving.


Wetenschappelijke doorbraken

De onderzoeksgemeenschap van Oncode Institute groeide met tien nieuwe Junior Investigators, verspreid over tien partnerinstituten. Hierdoor groeide het onderzoeksnetwerk van 52 naar 62 onderzoeksteams. Dit versterkte de kennisbasis, waardoor talrijke fundamentele inzichten hun weg vonden naar klinische toepassing. In 2024 publiceerden Oncode Investigators honderden artikelen en haalden zij gezamenlijk 66,9 miljoen euro aan externe onderzoeksfinanciering binnen. Daarbij behoorden veel publicaties tot de wereldwijde top tien procent van meest geciteerde wetenschappelijke werken.


Dankzij financieringsprogramma’s van Oncode Institute zoals de Base Research Funding en het Clinical Proof of Concept (CPoC)-programma konden Oncode Investigators innovatieve klinische projecten starten en snel eerste klinische resultaten behalen. Een treffend voorbeeld hoe wij bruggen slaan tussen kennis en toepassing is het onderzoek van Jacco van Rheenen (Oncode Investigator) naar de invloed van de menstruatiecyclus op de effectiviteit van chemotherapie bij muizen. De resultaten van het fundamentele onderzoek van Van Rheenen en zijn collega’s zijn de basis voor een klinische studie.

"In 2024 publiceerden Oncode Investigators honderden artikelen en haalden zij gezamenlijk 66,9 miljoen euro aan externe onderzoeksfinanciering binnen."

Valorisatie en economische impact

In 2024 diende Oncode Institute een recordaantal van 25 nieuwe octrooiaanvragen in en werden 47 nieuwe vindingen geregistreerd. De rechten rond negen uitvindingen werden gelicentieerd en zes nieuwe technologieontwikkelingsprojecten werden gestart. Meerdere spin-offs, waaronder Laigo Bio, Flindr Therapeutics en Cell Control, haalden miljoeneninvesteringen op. Via het Oncology Bridge Fund werden nieuwe bedrijven, sCellGen en Polar Oncology opgericht. Iedere euro die wordt geïnvesteerd via dit fonds levert gemiddeld veertien euro aan vervolginvesteringen op, en worden tientallen nieuwe banen in de biotechsector gecreëerd. Dankzij de samenwerking tussen Oncode Accelerator en Cancer Research Horizons werd de internationale samenwerking op het gebied van expertise en innovatie verder versterkt.


Gezondheid en patiëntgerichte innovatie

Met workshops versterkte Oncode Institute de verbinding tussen onderzoek en klinische praktijk, onder andere op het gebied van maag- en slokdarmkanker en innovatieve klinische ontwikkeltrajecten. Bij de beoordeling van nieuwe klinische projecten werd binnen het Patiënt Participatie Programma actief samengewerkt met patiëntvertegenwoordigers, waardoor onderzoeksvoorstellen beter aansluiten op de behoeften van patiënten. Een sprekend voorbeeld hiervan is het werk van Jeroen de Ridder (Oncode Investigator) waarbij de klinische toepassing van een nieuwe technologie, de Sturgeon-technologie voor hersenchirurgie, uiteindelijke invloed heeft op de patiënt.


Vooruitblik

Ook in 2025 blijft Oncode Institute investeren in excellente wetenschap, grensoverschrijdende samenwerking en proactieve valorisatie. Dankzij haar unieke ecosysteem blijft Oncode Institute de weg van laboratorium naar patiënt versnellen en zo economische en maatschappelijke waarde creëren.