Please note: this column has been translated from Dutch to English

One out of two people in the Netherlands will face cancer at some point in their lives. In recent years, the life expectancy of cancer patients has increased. New innovations will contribute to further improvements. However, there are still several roadblocks that prevent new treatments from getting to patients or from reaching them quickly. I regularly see news articles about medications that are not covered by insurance. This worries me greatly; we need to advocate for the patients of today and tomorrow. The system must change quickly because, at the moment, patients are suffering.

My team at KWF dreams of making medicines accessible and ensuring that all forms of cancer can be better treated. To pursue this dream, we focus on several areas.

Academic driven pharma

The first is academic-driven pharma; here, we aim to help and encourage researchers to successfully transition drugs discovered in Dutch academic labs into the pharmaceutical industry or to develop them further themselves to reach patients as quickly as possible. This contributes to more available treatments for the patients of tomorrow.

Collaboration with CRUK

To assist researchers in successfully transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry, we collaborate with the Centre for Drug Development (CDD) at Cancer Research UK. The CDD, along with a network of research institutes, conducts the first clinical phase. After this phase, the product is licensed to larger companies under strict conditions of socially responsible licensing. For example, within a year, the product must advance to the next development phase. This licensing approach also aims to ensure that the final price is socially responsible. For KWF, this collaboration is an innovative step, and we are very proud of it.

International call ATTRACT

We also try to encourage academic researchers to do the later stages of clinical trials themselves. Our goal is not to compete with the industry but to drive the further development of drugs that are not commercially attractive due to a limited indication area or complex production techniques. This often involves patients with rare cancers, who have far fewer treatment options and generally a poorer survival rate than patients with more common cancers. At KWF, we prioritize this area. We also seek international collaboration: last year, we launched the ATTRACT call, specifically seeking phase 2 and 3 clinical studies for patients with rare cancers. We partnered with four other health funds (Anticancer Fund, Kom op tegen Kanker, AECC, ARC) and funded four groundbreaking international projects. We hope to issue this call more frequently in the future.

No shortcuts, but support

We are also very proud of the Netherlands Cancer Institute, which developed its own TIL therapy for metastatic melanoma. In this therapy, patients receive a super army of their own immune cells, the so-called ‘tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes’ (TIL). This therapy is now covered in the Netherlands. To ensure sustainable patient access, we fund a registration process for this therapy. This is another new step for KWF. We believe it is important that academically driven drugs meet the same standards as all other medications. Applying for registration and being a registration holder is not easy, and therefore expert assistance is needed. We are also very pleased with the existence of an organization like FAST, which connects public and private parties to ensure that effective and safe drugs reach patients.

Rewarding innovation only in reasonableness and transparency

We must also think about the society of tomorrow and ensure that we can still afford the best possible care in the future. Extremely expensive medicines are no longer justifiable. KWF believes it is important for the pharmaceutical industry to be transparent about its prices and not to make disproportionate profits. It is crucial to address this issue at the European level and collaborate on it.

Centralising Patient Needs in Collaborative Efforts

KWF recognizes that this problem cannot be solved alone; scale is key to making impact. Therefore, we are pleased to see more and more collaborative networks emerging in the Netherlands and beyond, involving various stakeholders working effectively in drug development. Great examples include DARE-NL and the networks formed around DRUP and DAP, as well as those built around growth fund applications like Oncode Accelerator and DECISIVE. These networks involve both public and private parties, with the needs of today’s and tomorrow’s patients at the core. These networks help us collectively move closer to making medicines accessible and ensuring that all forms of cancer become better treatable. This is what I dedicate myself to every day at KWF.