On September 17, 2024, four National Growth Fund projects came together at the Innovation Center for Advanced Therapies (ICAT) in Zeist. This is a highly advanced laboratory set up by the UMC Utrecht, where they work on new ways to treat diseases using cell and gene therapies. These four projects receive money from the National Growth Fund to conduct research into new treatments for diseases such as cancer, and chronic diseases such as diabetes, kidney failure and heart problems. They discussed what they have achieved so far and what they want to do in the future. They emphasized that collaboration is important, because it allows them to achieve results that help patients more quickly.
What are cell and gene therapies?
These are groundbreaking ways to treat diseases. With this treatment, you can cure the disease itself, instead of just treating the symptoms. They use human cells or genetic material for this. These treatments can help people who do not yet have a good solution, for example with cancer or type 1 diabetes. The first results are promising, but there are still challenges before these treatments are available to everyone.
The four projects that are working on this are:
- RegMedXB: This project wants to ensure that scientific research is converted more quickly into real treatments for patients, such as cell and gene therapies.
- Oncode Accelerator: This project focuses specifically on cancer research. They use new techniques, such as artificial intelligence, to discover more quickly which medicines work well.
- NXTGEN Hightech: They are working on innovative equipment to make cell therapies faster and of higher quality, so that they become more available to patients.
- Biotech Booster: This project helps companies to bring new treatments to the market faster by supporting them with money and knowledge.
Together, these projects ensure that new treatments are available to patients in the Netherlands more quickly. This means that people with serious illnesses can be helped more quickly. This means that healthcare will be less burdened in the future and lifelong care for chronic illnesses will be replaced by a cure.
