Lygature concludes role in Oncode Accelerator after successful startup phase

About three years ago, Oncode-PACT was only a great idea on paper, combining three National Growth Fund (NGF) initiatives into one overarching program. After the NGF encouraged its initiators to submit a formal proposal, in July 2022 an ambitious program, integrating four cancer therapy types (small molecules, biologics, therapeutic vaccines, cell and gene therapy), three innovative platform technologies (patient cohorts, organoids, AI), and regulatory innovation, was born. Its mission: to collaboratively innovate and accelerate the preclinical development of new cancer therapies for the benefit of patients of all ages.

Tale Sliedrecht, senior program manager at Lygature, and Friso Smit, then senior business developer at the UMC Utrecht, were appointed co-directors to oversee the setup phase of the program. Soon, more people from Lygature were brought on board, to help with their expertise in partnership management and their experience in setting up large research initiatives. The Lygature team included Jacqueline Staring, Patricia Kramer-Verhulst and Rita Azevedo as the program management team, and Alexander Duyndam, Elize Brolsma, Yoanna de Geus, Hans Munneke and Vesna de Jong in communications, with the help of Lygature’s long-standing partner Schuttelaar & Partners. 

Pioneering

As the setup phase progressed and the name was changed from Oncode-PACT to its current name Oncode Accelerator (OA), it became clear that the € 325 million program (funding from NGF; excluding a matching contribution from partners), is as ambitious as it is complex. “We were pioneering”, Lygature’s OA program lead Rita Azevedo explains. “Although as Lygature we have a lot of experience setting up large research initiatives, for example with Health-RI and Oncode Institute, every situation is different. Oncode Accelerator is quite a challenging program, consisting of six coordinating partners in ten consortia totaling more than thirty public and private partners. Only in such a multistakeholder partnership, with each partner bringing their own unique expertise to the table, we can begin to make our mission a reality. We are proud that we have come this far, forging trust among our partners, and giving the program a solid foundation.”

Among the highlights of the past 2.5 years are the successful implementation of the governance structure; setting up a highly collaborative working group program management with representatives from all consortia; the inspiring two-day consortium meeting in Antropia; initiating the strategy of validating the innovated pipelines; and the first call opening for so-called Demonstrator Projects. These projects are at the heart of the program, to test and validate the innovated Oncode Accelerator infrastructure while simultaneously aiming to increase the technology readiness level of promising leads. Through Demonstrator Projects, owners of a promising target, compound or therapy have access to a unique cancer research network and infrastructure, and can be eligible for up to 50% funding of their expenses.

Making a difference

At different moments in the startup phase, Lygature’s contribution to Oncode Accelerator was extended as needed. Erwin Boutsma joined the program management team; Julia Lischke initiated and coordinated OA’s data governance and data management strategy; Judy Löwik and Lucy Schapendonk joined the communications team. 

Now that the program transitions from a successful startup phase to full action, it is time to pass all responsibilities to the Oncode Accelerator Foundation team that was built in the past years. Lygature’s contribution to the program was therefore gradually decreased in the second half of 2024, formally ending on 31 December 2024 (with the exception of our program management in the AI platform, which will be unchanged). Currently, Rita, Jacqueline and Erwin are wrapping up their final activities in this partnership, waving goodbye to their colleagues after an intense, inspiring, and productive period of working together, but fully confident that the program will enter a phase of effectively making a difference for cancer patients. 

Friso Smit, currently Chief Operating Officer of the program, concludes: “The only way to fulfil our ambitious mission is to collaborate. We are very grateful to Lygature for helping us in setting up the Oncode Accelerator program, that will enable us to innovate and accelerate the development of new cancer therapies for the benefit of patients of all ages.”