In medicines development, academic researchers have traditionally focused on the basic science: the research needed to understand pathophysiology and underlying disease mechanisms and to identify potential targets for therapeutic intervention. The applied research to develop new drugs and bring them to the market has been mainly performed by industry researchers. Nowadays, academia has taken on a more prominent role in applied research.

The time between the first publication of the discovery and the approval of a new substance is very different for substances discovered by industry (twelve years, on average) and those discovered by academia (twenty-four years, on average) (Patridge et al, 2015). The twelve-year difference in this so-called ‘gap to approval’ can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that academia is quicker to share results (while industry delays publishing them until later in the development process) and likely by inadequate funding of academic drug development. We believe you can do better with the right support! 

In this session, we introduce you to potential sparring partners and tools to help you translate your idea into a start-up business.  

Chairs: Marlous Kooijman (FAST), Gwen Keulen (Maastricht University)

Speakers: Barend Bouma (NLO), Niels van Leeuwen (RVO), Bastiaan Bijl (Oncode Accelerator), Nienke van der Kooij (SiRM), Saskia van der Erf (SiRM)

Selected Abstract Presenter: Wessel Kooijman (Utrecht University)

FIGON Partners: FAST