20 Years of Pioneering Partnerships for Patient Impact: Strengthening Health Innovation Ecosystems

From funding projects to making partnerships work

As the initial research programs of TI Pharma and CTMM matured, a shift began to take shape. The final investments in these portfolios marked not an endpoint, but a transition - from funding collaborative research to enabling partnerships that continue to create value over time.

In the life sciences and health sector, the impact of innovation often unfolds over many years. Early investments in collaborative research have since contributed to advancements in areas such as oncology, infectious diseases, and diagnostics -  including examples where research has progressed from early-stage collaboration to clinical development and, ultimately, patient care.

This shift laid the foundation for Lygature’s evolving role: not only supporting individual projects but strengthening the broader ecosystem in which innovation can thrive.

Enabling new roles for health foundations

A key step in strengthening the ecosystem came through supporting health foundations in navigating public–private partnerships. One of the first “expertise assignments,” commissioned by KWF, explored how health foundations could take on a more active and strategic role in collaborative research.

By analyzing different models and approaches, this work helped provide direction for how foundations could effectively participate in partnerships - ultimately contributing to initiatives such as the Oncode Institute. It also reflected a broader shift: from funding research in isolation to actively shaping collaborative innovation.

Building national collaboration frameworks

Beyond individual partnerships, the legacy organizations that would become Lygature played a key role in fostering cohesion across the Dutch Life Sciences & Health (LSH) sector. Through the LSH innovation program, efforts were made to align stakeholders, create shared direction, and ensure that innovation could reach patients while also delivering economic value.

This program helped lay the foundation for what would later become the top sector LSH, now known as Health~Holland. By bringing together stakeholders across disciplines and organizations, it established a more coordinated and collaborative national ecosystem.

From national initiatives to scalable models

The experience gained in building national programs and partnerships was further applied in large-scale initiatives such as the Oncode Institute. In 2017, Lygature partnered with Oncode to help operationalize this ambitious national oncology initiative, enabling it to build on existing expertise in managing complex collaborations.

This model - combining scientific excellence with strong partnership design and management - proved scalable. Similar approaches have since been applied in other national and international initiatives, demonstrating how ecosystem thinking can be translated into practical, impactful collaboration structures.

This ecosystem-building approach is also reflected in Lygature's involvement in initiatives supported by the Dutch National Growth Fund, including PharmaNL, Oncode Accelerator, Health-RI, and CPBT (now Ombion). Our contributions to these programs further demonstrate how coordinated investment and collaboration can strengthen national innovation capacity and accelerate impact.

Creating spaces for collaboration

Ecosystems are not only built through programs and partnerships, but also through physical and organizational proximity. Over time, Lygature has contributed to creating shared environments where organizations can collaborate more effectively.

From the early days of the Jaarbeurs Innovation Mile (2016) to the opening of the HI-FIVE joint office (2023), Lygature has been a driving force in bringing together multiple organizations within the Dutch LSH ecosystem. By co-locating initiatives such as Health-RI, Oncode Institute, Oncode Accelerator, Biotech Booster, RegMed XB and BioBased Circular, these shared spaces strengthen connectivity, facilitate knowledge exchange, and enable closer collaboration.

“I have had the opportunity to witness the evolution of Lygature and its predecessors throughout different stages of my career. As Managing Director of Leiden Bio Science Park at the time, I saw TI Pharma grow into one of the key collaboration anchors within the ecosystem.

What I have always admired is the determination and vision to evolve from a publicly funded initiative into an independent organisation without own subsidy, dedicated to strengthening partnerships in health innovation. That transition requires both courage and adaptability.

Today, in my role as CEO of the National Growth Fund program Biotech Booster, I experience first-hand how valuable connected ecosystems are. Sharing the HI-FIVE space with organisations across the Life Sciences & Health field creates proximity, exchange, and collaboration that genuinely strengthens innovation.

Congratulations to Lygature on this important milestone and on 20 years of connecting people and organisations around a shared ambition: impact for patients!”

- Nettie Buitelaar, CEO Biotech Booster

Connecting ecosystems across Europe

Lygature’s ecosystem-building role extends beyond the Netherlands. At the European level, initiatives such as the European Lead Factory demonstrate how shared infrastructure and collaboration models can transform innovation.

By mobilizing €230 million in public and private investment, the European Lead Factory created a unique platform for collaborative drug discovery - enabling partners across sectors to access shared resources and accelerate research.

Similarly, Lygature’s involvement in 23 projects under the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) (previously IMI) - including our 20^th IHI project, IDERHA - highlights our extensive experience in building and managing large-scale European public–private partnerships. 

Ecosystems as a foundation for impact

Over the past two decades, Lygature has contributed to building ecosystems at multiple levels - from national coordination to European collaboration. These ecosystems provide the foundation for innovation to move more effectively from research to real-world impact.

By connecting stakeholders, aligning interests, and creating structures for collaboration, Lygature helps ensure that innovation does not happen in isolation, but within a system designed to support long-term success.

As healthcare challenges become more complex, the importance of strong, connected ecosystems will only continue to grow.

This article is part of Lygature’s 20-year anniversary story series, celebrating two decades of pioneering partnerships for patient impact. As part of this anniversary year, join us on Thursday, 2 July, for our annual stakeholder event, Lygature LIVE, where the program will connect past achievements with future collaboration in health innovation.