Oncode Accelerator Pulse - Spring 2026
Developing new cancer therapies is neither easy nor fast. Bringing a safe and effective therapy to patients demands deep scientific knowledge, top infrastructure, and years of committed work.
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Editorial: Berthold Leeftink on Gaining Momentum
Developing new cancer therapies is neither easy nor fast. Bringing a safe and effective therapy to patients demands deep scientific knowledge, top infrastructure, and years of committed work. Yet still, as Wouter Vaes, Principal Scientist at TNO, notes in this edition of the Oncode Accelerator Pulse: “Currently, 97 percent of oncology drugs fail in clinical trials. That’s disastrous. We can do better.”
This conviction is at the heart of Oncode Accelerator. We aim to change how cancer therapies are developed, by building an innovative and integrated R&D ecosystem that brings together top academic researchers and biotechnology and pharma companies, supported by cutting‑edge infrastructure and technologies. By enabling more predictive and efficient preclinical development, we should be able to deliver more effective and personalized therapies for patients.
Since our launch in 2023, Oncode Accelerator has made progress towards this shared ambition. Through the Oncode Accelerator Pulse, we offer examples of how that ambition is taking shape.
Bertholt Leeftink, CEO of Oncode Accelerator Foundation & Managing Director of Oncode InstituteTo build on our momentum and create a future-proof oncology ecosystem that both delivers new therapies and contributes to a healthy economy, collaboration with other key players will be essential.
With the launch of our seventh Demonstrator Project alongside other scientific developments across our program, Oncode Accelerator is gaining momentum. In this edition, we highlight how our investments in new research models and data can drive more precise care, and faster discovery of new treatments for children with cancer. Crucially, the translational and regulatory expertise within our program helps to ensure that our work will have impact for patients like Paul van Rijn, who shares his perspective in this edition.
To build on this momentum and create a future-proof oncology ecosystem that both delivers new therapies and contributes to a healthy economy, collaboration with other key players will be essential. As the incoming CEO and Chair of the Board of Directors of the Oncode Accelerator Foundation, I see strong opportunities for Oncode Accelerator and our sister organization Oncode Institute to strengthen each other’s work. By joining forces with others who share our vision, we can make major steps in preclinical development of new cancer therapies for the benefit of patients of all ages. Because together, we can, and must, do better.
Read the Collection
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TNO: Innovation In Action
As a partner of Oncode Accelerator, TNO brings world-class translational technology and AI-driven insights to the oncology ecosystem. We spoke with Principal Scientist Wouter Vaes and Senior Scientist Jennifer McCormack-Venhorst to explore how TNO’s unique mix of tech and knowledge can enable safer, faster and more predictive cancer drug development so that better therapies reach patients sooner. -
From Patient to Participation: Paul van Rijn’s Story of Trust, Treatment, and Giving Back
Paul van Rijn was only 49 years old when he was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. Now, 6 years later, Paul has gone through treatment, participated in the Dutch National Prospective colorectal cancer patient cohort (PLCRC), and become a volunteer with Stichting Darmkanker, the Dutch Foundation for colorectal cancer patients. This is Paul’s story. -
Paving the Way for Innovation: Regulating Tomorrow’s Cancer Therapies
Using new and innovative technologies can help scientists to develop better therapies, faster. However, new models, tools, and strategies do not always fit within existing regulatory pathways. If we want innovations to be used in therapy development, sometimes we also need to innovate in how they are regulated.
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Collaborating to Outsmart Pediatric Cancer
In this video, learn about how Oncode Accelerator and the Princess Máxima Center for pediatric oncology are combining insights from whole genome sequencing data and new-and-improved research models to drive more precise care, and faster discovery of new treatments. -
From Clinic to Lab and Back Again: Jeanine Roodhart on Bridging Care and Research
Jeanine Roodhart, Medical Oncologist and Associate Professor at UMC Utrecht, is the lead of Oncode Accelerator’s Patient Cohorts Platform. She is driven by one guiding principle: learning from every patient to improve cancer care and preclinical therapy development for all. -
Bringing Patient Biology into Early Drug Development with Cumulus Oncology
Promising cancer drugs can falter if patient selection — identifying which patients will benefit — is addressed too late. This fact led Cumulus Oncology to partner with Oncode Accelerator, with an ambition to do better.
Photo credit From Patient to Participation and Paving the Way for Innovation: Laloes Fotographie
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