Xilis Participates in €325MM Oncode-PACT Consortium to Accelerate the Development of Cancer Drugs

National public-private consortium aims to bring together researchers, oncologists, knowledge institutes and the business community to collaboratively develop better and affordable cancer medicines more quickly

DURHAM, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Xilis, Inc., a pioneering company developing its MicroOrganoSphere™ (MOS) technology to guide precision therapy for cancer patients and accelerate drug discovery and development, announced today that it is participating in the recently announced public-private Oncode-PACT. Led by the Netherlands-based Oncode Institute, the consortium will be supported by the National Growth Fund, an initiative of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy and the Ministry of Finance.

“Across all cancers there remains tremendous unmet needs for new targeted treatment approaches that address the unique attributes of each patient,” said Xiling Shen, PhD, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Xilis. “Our MOS technology supports the development of new insights into tumor microenvironments and heterogeneity of the originating tumor tissue for accurate, rapid and high-throughput therapeutic profiling. Xilis is proud to be part of Oncode-PACT to help support drug discovery and development and help clinicians make more informed treatment decisions through our European-based office in Netherlands.”

Xilis’ proprietary tumorsphere microencapsulation platform evaluates cancer therapies at scale and is designed to enable physicians to make precision oncology treatment decisions, identifying treatments that will led to the best response for each patient.

Alain Kummer, Managing Director Oncode Institute and Chairman of Oncode-PACT, explains: “Oncode-PACT places the patient at the center of the entire drug development chain. In the current situation, the preclinical development process is still insufficiently connected with the clinical practice, and we focus on the patient too late in the drug development process.”

Oncode-PACT has the ambition to develop new demonstrably effective cancer drugs faster and more cost-effectively. The medical need is urgent, because cancer remains a leading cause of death worldwide.

About Oncode-PACT

Oncode-PACT is a unique national consortium of public and private partners, in which Oncode Institute is the lead party. Within Oncode-PACT, researchers, oncologists, knowledge institutes and the business community work together to develop better and affordable cancer medicines more quickly. There is close coordination with the Ministry of EZK (applicant) and the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport. In addition to the planned own investment by the Oncode-PACT partners, a contribution has been requested from the National Growth Fund to be able to realize the national plan. See also oncode.nl/Oncode-PACT

About the National Growth Fund

With the National Growth Fund, the government will invest 20 billion euros between 2021 and 2025 in projects that ensure long-term structural and sustainable economic growth. It concerns projects in the field of research, development and innovation in the areas where the Netherlands has the most opportunities.

All submitted projects are carefully assessed by an independent committee against specific criteria. In the event of a positive recommendation from the committee, the cabinet decides whether money will be allocated immediately or whether money will be reserved for a project. In the case of a reservation, a better substantiation will be requested, after which the project will be reassessed by the committee.

More information about the National Growth Fund and the investment proposals of projects can be found at www.nationaalgroeifonds.nl.

About Xilis

Based in Durham, North Carolina, Xilis, Inc. is a biotechnology company developing a precision oncology platform that guides treatment decisions for oncologists to improve cancer care outcomes for patients and supports drug discovery and development for pharmaceutical companies. Xilis’ proprietary MicroOrganoSphere™ (MOS) technology consists of miniature patient tumors that capture the full microenvironment and heterogeneity and provides an automated and scalable solution. Using MOS and AI-driven algorithms, Xilis is developing a Xilis Response Score™ for the clinic, enabling oncologists to make informed and timely treatment decisions. Additionally, the MOS technology is speeding up development and clinical trials of cancer drugs by enabling analysis of authentic tumor microenvironments, high-throughput preclinical modeling, and clinical patient selection capabilities.

To learn more about Xilis, visit our website at Xilis.com or follow us on LinkedIn.

Michelle Linn
Bioscribe, Inc.
774-696-3803
michelle@bioscribe.com