21 July 2026, Utrecht, the Netherlands. Antibody-based therapies are one of the most effective tools in modern oncology, offering a highly targeted and versatile approach to cancer treatment. The potential of biologics continues to grow as researchers develop new ways to enhance their effectiveness, reduce side effects, and expand their use to more types of cancer. However, there are still significant challenges in antibody discovery and development. The process is expensive and time-consuming, and despite extensive oncology research, a large proportion of antibody projects still fail in the clinic. One of the most challenging stretches of development is manufacturing a promising antibody to the strict quality standards required for clinical use: a stage known as (pre-)Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP).

"Too many promising antibody candidates stall on their way to the clinic because the journey from early discovery to GMP-ready manufacturing is too fragmented," says Debby Vermeer – Kruijsen, co-Lead of the Oncode Accelerator Biologics Workstream and Chief Strategic Alliance Officer and co-Founder of ExpediteBio. “Our ambition is to remove those barriers by creating a connected biologics development ecosystem in which scientific excellence, technology partners and industrial expertise work together seamlessly. That collaborative model will help promising innovations reach patients faster.”

Building one seamless infrastructure that supports antibody drug development from discovery to GMP, by drawing on in-depth scientific understanding while leveraging innovative technologies and collaborative approaches, could accelerate and de-risk this process. This is exactly how the partnership between ExpediteBio and Oncode Accelerator can make impact for drug developers, and eventually also for patients.

Richard van Rijnsoever, CEO and co-Founder of ExpediteBio, explains:

"We founded ExpediteBio to address fragmentation in development pipelines, reduce complexity of biologics development, and help bring promising assets forward. Bringing ExpediteBio's capabilities into the Biologics Workstream is mutually beneficial: together, we are creating a more connected pathway that enables innovative cancer antibodies to advance more efficiently from scientific discovery to clinical development, ultimately reaching patients faster."

As well as providing early-stage development support for antibody and protein-based therapeutics, ExpediteBio brings specialized expertise in later-stage preclinical development, helping ensure that antibodies discovered in the lab can be reliably and safely produced at the quality level needed for first-in-human studies. By joining the Biologics Workstream, ExpediteBio will contribute towards closing the gap between antibody lead discovery and optimization and the later-stage development work that follows, streamlining a journey that has historically been a bottleneck for promising cancer treatments.

The overarching goal of the Biologics Workstream at Oncode Accelerator is to increase the odds that a promising antibody makes it all the way from initial discovery to a validated, de-risked clinical candidate. The addition of ExpediteBio brings the Biologics Workstream's network of expert partners closer to offering an end-to-end pipeline that can accelerate the delivery of new cancer treatments to the patients who need them most.

About Oncode Accelerator

Oncode Accelerator is a public-private partnership that is partially funded by the Dutch National Growth Fund (NGF), aiming to innovate and accelerate the development of new cancer therapies by placing cancer patients at the core of preclinical therapy development. It is a collaboration between six coordinating partners: Leiden University, Leiden University Medical Center, the Netherlands Cancer Institute, Princess Máxima Center, UMC Utrecht and the Oncode Accelerator Foundation.

Website: https://www.oncodeaccelerator.nl

About ExpediteBio

ExpediteBio is a biotechnology company based in Woubrugge, the Netherlands, dedicated to accelerating the development of biologic therapeutics through smarter, parallelized development models that reduce time, cost and risk for emerging therapeutics. By combining scientific expertise with an integrated ecosystem of technology, development, manufacturing, and strategic partners, ExpediteBio helps biotechnology companies and academic innovators efficiently translate promising biologics toward clinical development.

Website: https://www.expeditebio.com

Media Contacts

Oncode Accelerator
Saskia Theunisse – de Jager (Director Marketing & Communications)
Tel: 0031 6-57 82 14 78
Email: saskia.theunisse@oncodeaccelerator.nl  / PR@oncodeaccelerator.nl

ExpediteBio
Communications Email: info@expeditebio.com