News

Researchers worldwide now have access to the procedure of growing organoids from fetal brain tissue, which is developed at the Princess Máxima Center. The organoids can be used to model any type of brain tumor in the lab. This allows scientists to generate novel experimental models to study many, often rare brain tumor subtypes. Researchers thus hope to accelerate research into the origin and treatment of brain tumors in children.

KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society), the largest cancer-focused charity in the Netherlands has granted 39 million euros to several research projects that aim to better understand and treat different cancer indications.

During the Dutch economic mission to the United Kingdom (led by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Dutch embassy in London) Oncode Institute, Oncode Accelerator and Cancer Research Horizons – the innovation arm of Cancer Research UK – took a significant step towards future collaboration.

For the first time since the official start of the Oncode Accelerator program in September 2023, cancer researchers, drug developers, investors, patient advocates, and representatives from additional stakeholders gathered in Amsterdam to discuss how to collectively accelerate the development of new cancer therapies.

R(H)ONDA is an initiative by IKNL and Performation, who are partners within the Oncode Accelerator Patient Cohorts Innovation Platform. With the connection of OncoZON, 21 hospitals are now participating in this data flow, in which oncological data is automatically collected from electronic health records and processed faster.

This week, we celebrate the awarding of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for revolutionary research on computational protein design and protein structure prediction.

The consortia are joining forces to accelerate research, development and innovation in the area of ATMP’s and biopharmaceuticals.

Researchers in the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology can now look for starting points for the development of new cancer vaccines. With the opening of the lead finding facility there, an important milestone within national partnership Oncode Accelerator has been reached.

The Oncode Accelerator Patient Cohorts and Organoids Platform will be closely collaborating in so-called adaptive clinical trial designs. We asked organoid platform manager Helena Viñas Gaza and clinical trial expert Peter van de Ven how this infrastructure will play a key role in Oncode Accelerator.

The patient perspective is of vital importance to the Oncode Accelerator program. It’s hard to find someone more passionate about this than Pauline Evers, advocate for equal access to innovative treatments at the Dutch Federation of Cancer Patient Organizations (NFK).

Arnoud Huisman and Bastiaan Bijl have the important task to make sure Oncode Accelerator delivers on its promise: to change preclinical therapy development forever. ‘Oncode Accelerator is not just about what we're achieving today; it's about setting the stage for tomorrow.’

Liesbeth de Vries is Chair of the Demonstrator Advisory Board, a key element of the Oncode Accelerator Program. She introduces herself in this blog. ‘I like to think I’ve built a reputation for fairness and meticulousness.’

Four National Growth Fund-supported initiatives are joining forces to drive development of cell-based therapeutic products and approaches – and invite others to join them.

Jurgen Kuball and Inge Jedema talk about the role and added value of the Cell and Gene Therapy Workstream in Oncode Accelerator. “We want to accelerate product development.”

Sjoerd van der Burg and Sebastiaan van Heesch are optimistic about the future of therapeutic cancer vaccines and how Oncode Accelerator will enhance collaborations within the field of cancer therapy development. “Therapeutic vaccines will be an important player in the treatment of cancer and in combination with other immunotherapies could improve quality of life for cancer patients.”