17 November 2021

Oncode-PACT proposal submitted to Growth Fund

Oncode Institute is proud to announce that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy formally decided to submit the Oncode-PACT (Preclinical Accelerator for Cancer Treatments) proposal to the Growth Fund (Groeifonds) Commission on November 1st, 2021.

Elize Brolsma

Elize Brolsma

Elize is part of Oncode’s communication team. She has over 10 years of experience in the com-munication industry, both for commercial and non-profit organisations. After obtaining her bache-lor and master degree in communication at Utrecht University, Elize worked as a communication professional at a research institute, PR agency, law firm and internet company. She has a strong focus on external communications and Public Relations. At Oncode - together with her colleagues - Elize produces the monthly newsletters for Oncode Investigators & Researchers and the Oncode digital magazine. She publishes content for the Oncode website and is responsible for all social media channels. She enjoys discussing science with researchers and support them in their outreach.
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Elize Brolsma

Elize is part of Oncode’s communication team. She has over 10 years of experience in the com-munication industry, both for commercial and non-profit organisations. After obtaining her bache-lor and master degree in communication at Utrecht University, Elize worked as a communication professional at a research institute, PR agency, law firm and internet company. She has a strong focus on external communications and Public Relations. At Oncode - together with her colleagues - Elize produces the monthly newsletters for Oncode Investigators & Researchers and the Oncode digital magazine. She publishes content for the Oncode website and is responsible for all social media channels. She enjoys discussing science with researchers and support them in their outreach.

Oncode Institute is proud to announce that the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy formally decided to submit the Oncode-PACT (Preclinical Accelerator for Cancer Treatments) proposal to the Growth Fund (Groeifonds) Commission on November 1st, 2021.

Cancer places a great burden on patients, their families and society. It is the number 1 cause of death in the Netherlands and therefore puts a lot of pressure on our healthcare providers, budgets and infrastructure. Fortunately, we understand cancer a little better every day, in large part thanks to the excellent quality of oncological research in the Netherlands.

Even though many great findings are coming from the Dutch oncology labs, it still proves very difficult to let patients benefit from this output. Oncode Institute has put much effort in efficient and early-stage mining of discoveries in cancer research for patient benefit. Yet once a new possible therapy is identified, there is still a great risk of failure during the lengthy and costly drug development process. The goal of Oncode-PACT is to bring together and build out the state-of-the-art drug development infrastructure, make it easily accessible and to innovate the drug development process itself. By building early validation and de-risking into the drug development pipeline, our approach should result in higher chances of success.

We do this by combining all the expertise needed for cancer drug development into one accessible pipeline and to innovate the drug development process itself with more relevant research models and detailed clinical data from well-defined patient populations. Based on the existing infrastructure that the Oncode Institute and PACT-partners has built up, Oncode-PACT can place the Netherlands at the heart of the international field of oncological drug development. The effect this will have on biotech and companies using this innovative infrastructure is expected to generate lasting economic impact.

Any academic institution or company in the Netherlands will be able to access the preclinical development process developed within Oncode-PACT. An independent committee will select the right drug development projects. Based on its existing expertise and infrastructure, Oncode will be responsible for the Oncode-PACT operations.

More than forty leading parties from the oncology ecosystem have already joined this consortium to implement Oncode-PACT, including SME’s, large companies, universities, UMC’s, research institutes and social partners. We are very proud of this proposal and feel confident that Oncode-PACT and its many partners will create a long-term social and economic impact for the Netherlands.

In april 2022, it will be clear if our proposal will be approved for funding.

More information about the Oncode-PACT proposal can be found via this link.

If you have any questions, please contact Alain Kummer - chair of the Oncode-PACT steering group - via pact@oncode.nl.

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<span>Elize</span><span>Brolsma</span>

Elize is part of Oncode’s communication team. She has over 10 years of experience in the com-munication industry, both for commercial and non-profit organisations. After obtaining her bache-lor and master degree in communication at Utrecht University, Elize worked as a communication professional at a research institute, PR agency, law firm and internet company. She has a strong focus on external communications and Public Relations. At Oncode - together with her colleagues - Elize produces the monthly newsletters for Oncode Investigators & Researchers and the Oncode digital magazine. She publishes content for the Oncode website and is responsible for all social media channels. She enjoys discussing science with researchers and support them in their outreach.