Radboudumc receives grant from Nationaal Groeifonds Investments in Biotech Booster, Oncode-PACT and PharmaNL

The 'Nationaal Groeifonds' has awarded three large grants to consortia of which the Radboudumc is a member.  Oncode-PACT, PharmaNL and Biotech Booster will receive amounts ranging from 80 to 325 million euros. The objective of the Growth Fund is to achieve sustainable growth and advance innovations. Read more about the three projects in which the Radboudumc is involved. 

Biotech Booster: advancing biotechnological innovations

Biotech Booster unites a unique public-private coalition of universities, academic medical centers, colleges and the business community. This coalition will transform knowledge into valuable innovations faster and more efficiently. Within Biotech Booster, researchers and entrepreneurs build proposals together, making knowledge and expertise from both available simultaneously. Support is customized so that proposals have the best chance of making maximum economic and social impact. The idea and team are given time and space to grow resulting in new products and new entrepreneurs. Once an idea is robust enough, the entrepreneurs involved support the team in finding partners, for further growth through a startup or as part of an existing company. 

Biotech Booster receives an investment impulse of up to €246 million, of which €50 million is for the first phase, and a conditional allocation of €196 million for the remainder of the term. It thus makes a concrete contribution to social impact and biotechnological innovations that make life better. Within this project, the Radboudumc focuses on RNA techniques that give us more knowledge about diagnostics, therapy development and treatment of rare diseases.

Oncode-PACT: development of new cancer drugs

The development of a drug takes an average of ten to fifteen years, from the time of the first scientific insights to the time when patients have access to it. Too often, at the end of this lengthy development process, the drug candidate is not effective enough or does not reach the right patient for other reasons. The current development process for cancer drugs is costly, takes too long, usually only works in part of the patients and does not help the patient who is sick now. Oncode-PACT aims to provide solutions to these problems.

The National Growth Fund is investing a total of 325 million euros in Oncode-PACT's plan to accelerate the preclinical development process for cancer medications. With this funding, Oncode-PACT will develop valuable candidate cancer drugs more quickly and cheaply and thus get them to patients sooner. This improves the quality of life of cancer patients and strengthens the future economic earning capacity of the Netherlands. Harry Dolstra (Laboratory Medicine) and Jolanda de Vries (Tumor Immunology) of the Radboudumc are involved in the project.

PharmaNL: investing in development and availability of medication

PharmaNL is going to invest in the infrastructure needed for the development and availability of essential medicines, especially for technical facilities. The conditional allocation of eighty million euros means a major boost for new activity within the pharmaceutical sector. This is an important precondition for both innovative therapy development and innovations in drug production technologies. PharmaNL also contributes to an increase in the production of medicines on Dutch soil and the attractiveness of the Netherlands as a country of pharmaceutical establishment.

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