National Growth Fund invests €1.4 million in Twente biotech projects
Diagnosing life-threatening diseases and innovative immunotherapy: these biotech projects get a boost.
Published on December 10, 2024
Diagnosing life-threatening diseases in minutes and an immunotherapy booster to better treat cancer. These are two examples of the total of seven Twente biotechnology projects jointly receiving €1.4 million in funding and support. The National Growth Fund, which aims to boost biotechnology research, supported 54 projects this week.
Diagnose infectious diseases in minutes
Occam Dx, a spin-off from the University of Twente is working with Saxion's Applied Nanotechnology lectureship to address the global challenge of fighting infectious diseases. The innovative technology developed by Occam Dx offers a solution to detect bacteria and viruses quickly and accurately, with results in minutes instead of days. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how mild pathogens can disrupt global society in no time. Another example is sepsis, a life-threatening response of the human body to infection, responsible for 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. With current methods, diagnosis takes 3 to 5 days. With support from BioTech Booster, Occam DX can build a strong foundation to attract investment and commercialize this diagnostic solution, saving lives and lowering healthcare costs.
Booster for cancer medicine
More effective cancer treatment by boosting existing immunotherapy is the focus of Twente's second BioTech Booster project. It turns out that the most advanced cancer therapies, such as immunotherapy, have a response rate of only 10-15% in patients with solid tumors. Jai Prakash, professor of Engineered Therapeutics at the University of Twente, is working with his team on a method that, combined with existing immunotherapies, increases the response rate to treat the disease better. The therapy focuses on (1) reprogramming white blood cells that play a crucial role in the immune system and (2) reactivating immune cells to improve the effectiveness of existing immunotherapy.
About BioTech Booster
Biotech Booster was allocated a total of nearly €250M from the National Growth Fund in April 2022 to intensify the valorization of biotechnology research. With this program, researchers and entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions, and companies can together turn biotechnological knowledge into valuable innovations faster and more efficiently.
Radboudumc and the University of Twente strengthen their collaboration in medtech
The two universities are expanding their collaboration to develop talent, knowledge, and innovation.