Impact on Economy

Strategic Activities

In 2025, Oncode Institute continued to build a proactive commercialization strategy focused on the early identification and development of promising innovations. The strength of this approach lies in integrating commercialization tools, including TechDev, IP development, and spin-out creation. This creates a continuous pipeline from scientific insights to economic and societal value. This approach resulted in a growing portfolio of technologies, supported by a continuous stream of patent applications and a growing portfolio of spin-offs. The strength of this approach was also evident in new collaborations between science and industry. With support from the Oncode Institute, Linde Meyaard initiated a collaboration with an American biotech company, bringing together fundamental science and application directly.

To sustain and scale up this development, we prepared a new phase in 2025—based on the positive results of the Oncology Bridge Fund (OBF)—with the establishment of Oncology Bridge Fund II (OBF II). With renewed support from the Ministry of Economic Affairs and KWF, this is an important next step in advancing innovations and ensuring continuity in spin-out formation and commercialization.

What is the Oncode Institute Oncology Bridge Fund?

The Oncology Bridge Fund (OBF) remains a key driver of commercialization by providing early-stage funding to spin-outs and helping innovations progress toward follow-on financing and application. In 2025, we scaled up this approach with the launch of Oncology Bridge Fund II (OBF II), in collaboration with Ligase BioPartners, as the next step in strengthening the commercialization chain within and outside the Oncode Community.

The Technology Development (TechDev) program also remained a key link in the commercialization chain. In 2025, we launched six new TechDev projects and successfully completed seven projects. As a result, innovations reached the next stage of development and were better positioned for further development or commercialization.

In addition, Oncode Institute continued to focus on strengthening the broader innovation ecosystem. We also intensified our collaboration with initiatives such as Oncode Accelerator and Biotech Booster to better connect the various links in the valorization chain. In doing so, we are creating a more effective and cohesive ecosystem.

Linde Meyaard
Oncode Investigator

A US biotech company working on immunotherapies had picked up a strange signal: a protein appeared to bind to LAIR-1, a receptor that dampens immune cells. But why this was happening remained unclear.

“We always thought LAIR-1 was the brake, until we saw there was a brake on that brake. That changes how we understand immune regulation in tumors. This discovery shows the strength of collaborating with a biotech company: together we answered fundamental questions none of us could have solved alone.”

Results

In 2025, Oncode Investigators reported 27 new inventions and filed 26 new patent applications. This keeps the influx of new knowledge and technology high. In 2025, ten licensing agreements were also concluded. These are important steps in translating innovations into concrete applications and collaborations with industry partners. They are essential for advancing innovations toward application. Currently, 38% of the portfolio is partnered with external parties through licenses or option agreements.

A total of 172 agreements were concluded, including 23 new public-private partnerships. These were established with partners ranging from startups to international pharmaceutical companies. These collaborations play a key role in attracting additional expertise, development capacity, and funding. The combination of academic knowledge and innovative biotechnology accelerates the translation of discoveries into new treatments for patients.

The economic value of these activities was further demonstrated by attracting 22.3 million euros in private investment for research and two spin-offs. The Oncology Bridge Fund (OBF) remained a key driver of this development. In 2025, OBF invested in Revealis, marking the fund’s latest investment in a spin-off. In addition, OBF achieved significant milestones through companies within the Oncode portfolio. For example, Laigo Bio and Cyclomics, among others, secured additional investments, supporting their continued growth and development toward commercialization. Other projects also made significant strides toward the development of new therapies. For example, work continued on Sjoerd van den Burg’s TEIPP concept, which aims to activate the immune system against tumor cells that would otherwise remain invisible.

The quality and entrepreneurial spirit within Oncode Institute ecosystem were also reflected in external recognition. For instance, researchers from Leiden University and Oncode Institute Business Development developed the “Myriagon” initiative, with the goal of creating an innovative solution for nerve pain caused by chemotherapy. The team won the Venture Challenge Fall 2025 with an innovative approach to treating nerve pain.

Nydus R&D, an initiative by researchers affiliated with the Princess Maxima Center, also participated in the animal-free Venture Challenge 2025, mentored by Oncode Institute. These initiatives illustrate how Oncode Institute actively supports researchers in translating scientific innovations into societal and clinical applications.

Mirjam Huizenga
Founder Myriagon

During the Dutch Life Sciences Conference, Myriagon was announced the winner of the Venture Challenge Fall 2025.

"We often hear from patients how deeply nerve pain affects their daily lives. That is what drives us. This award feels like recognition that we are on the right path—and a push forward to keep building toward clinical studies. Ultimately, we are doing this to offer people living with severe pain a new and better outlook."

Kép

Mario van der Stelt
Oncode Investigator

“Many patients live with pain that dominates their lives, while existing treatments often fall short. That is exactly why this research matters. This award shows that our efforts are not only scientifically strong but also socially meaningful. It gives us extra motivation to keep going until this discovery can truly make a difference for patients.”

Joel Rüegger
Oncode Investigator

Joel Rüegger, an Oncode researcher and CEO of Omivera, made an important contribution to the development of CellEKT and highlighted the platform’s potential impact. This technology forms the foundation of the spin-off Omivera B.V., which originated from Oncode Institute in 2025.

“By enabling a more precise assessment of kinase inhibitor selectivity early in the drug development process, CellEKT can help streamline the identification of promising therapeutic candidates and reduce the likelihood of adverse side effects.”

Impact & Future

The economic impact of Oncode Institute builds on fundamental scientific insights developed within the institute and advanced towards application through collaboration and valorisation. This impact is reflected in the ability to translate public investments into substantial private funding and economic activity. The Oncology Bridge Fund plays a key role in this. Up to and including 2025, €4.5 million in investments through OBF has resulted in €68.7 million in external public and private funding for spin-outs, contributing to the Dutch economy.

In 2025 alone, approximately 14 million euros in follow-on funding were secured. These investments enable the spin-offs to further develop their technologies, expand their teams, and accelerate their transition to market and clinical applications.

In addition, the industry invested 4.4 million euros in Oncode research in 2025. 11.9 million euros of the investments in spin-offs came from private investors. These combined funding streams underscore the appeal of the Oncode ecosystem to national and international partners.

With the launch of Oncology Bridge Fund II (OBF II), Oncode Institute will further scale up this impact in the coming years. This offers the opportunity to support more spin-offs, strengthen continuity in commercialization, and make a greater contribution to sustainable economic growth and innovation in oncology.

Public-private partnerships remained an important tool for generating economic impact in 2025. Oncode Institute was involved in two programs under Health~Holland’s PPP scheme, both aimed at accelerating innovation through public-private partnership projects. The REACT-NL program, a collaboration with KWF and KiKa, officially launched and focuses on accelerating innovations for rare cancers and childhood cancers. In addition, the new Lead4life program was approved, a collaboration with KWF, NRG PALLAS, and FAST, focused on developing new radiotherapies for cancer treatment based on lead-212. In this way, Oncode Institute contributes not only to medical innovation but also to economic growth and the strengthening of the Dutch life sciences ecosystem.

Shobhit Dhawan
Managing Partner Ligase Biopartners

“By combining early-stage funding with rigorous scientific and translational assessment, we help promising discoveries move from the lab toward the clinic and the market, creating societal value and preparing companies for follow-on investment. Together with Oncode Institute, we are scaling a model that has already proven its value.”

From laboratory discovery to economic impact: how Oncode Institute is shaping the future of biotech.

Kép

In the laboratories of Oncode Investigators across the Netherlands, fundamental scientific questions form the foundation for both medical and economic impact. What starts as curiosity-driven research can grow into strong examples of how science can be translated into tangible societal and economic value.

Through a combination of scientific excellence and strategic support for valorisation, Oncode Institute has spent years building an ecosystem that acts as a springboard for breakthrough discoveries from academia.

Laigo Bio
One of the clearest examples of this approach is Laigo Bio, a biotech spin-off developing the SureTAC platform. This innovative approach enables the targeted degradation of proteins that were previously considered untreatable. Supported by the Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund and further developed through research from the lab of Oncode Investigator Madelon Maurice, Laigo Bio recently secured €11.5 million in funding. This investment enables the spin-off to take the next step towards clinical application.

This trajectory, from idea to funded biotech company, is not a standalone case. It reflects the model that Oncode Institute has refined over the years: investing early in high-risk research, de-risking promising innovations and attracting private capital. On average, every euro invested by the Oncode Oncology Bridge Fund generates fourteen euros in external funding.

This approach has already led to more than a dozen spin-offs, creating high-value jobs, licensing technologies and strengthening the global competitiveness of the Dutch biotech sector.

OutMARCH
The economic impact of these spin-offs is closely linked to scientific ambition. The OutMARCH project, another initiative emerging from Maurice’s research, illustrates this dual contribution. OutMARCH is funded through the highly competitive Pathfinder programme of the European Innovation Council, which selected only 44 projects out of more than 1,000 applications.

Oncode Institute played a central role in shaping and coordinating this international consortium, aligning academic and industry partners across multiple countries.

OutMARCH focuses on developing a new class of therapies based on targeted protein degradation. The aim is to harness MARCH E3 ligases, enzymes capable of marking membrane proteins for degradation. This creates opportunities to selectively eliminate cancer-driving proteins. The approach could help overcome important limitations of current therapies, including resistance and off-target effects.

This project strengthens the position of Europe and the Netherlands in advanced biotechnology by fostering collaboration, attracting funding and accelerating the translation of early discoveries into future applications.

Integration
The success stories of OutMARCH and Laigo Bio highlight the strength of Oncode Institute’s integrated model. Academic research explores fundamental mechanisms, while spin-off companies provide the structure and expertise needed to bring therapies to patients. This synergy ensures that discoveries do not remain limited to publications, but contribute to a growing innovation pipeline with real market potential.

Behind these developments are the researchers themselves, driven by curiosity and the ambition to make a difference. Maurice and her team are motivated not only by a growing understanding of biological systems, but also by the drive to translate that knowledge into meaningful outcomes. Their work shows how fundamental science, supported by the right infrastructure, can grow into medical innovation and economic progress.

Driving force
In 2025, Oncode Institute continued to play an important role in driving this momentum. By bridging the gap between laboratory discovery and patient care, the institute strengthens the Netherlands’ position as a global leader in biotechnology. The Oncode model shows that sustained investment in high-risk research, combined with strategic collaboration and valorisation, can deliver broad benefits: advancing cancer treatment, attracting international capital and building a resilient, future-focused economy.

When technologies such as SureTAC will ultimately reach the market remains to be seen. But the broader impact is already clear. Oncode Institute is helping to build a thriving ecosystem in which science drives innovation and supports economic progress.