Major funding boost for molecular imaging in drug development
FORESIGHT consortium receives €9 million grant to accelerate drug development through advanced imaging technologies, addressing challenges in treating rising disease burdens across multiple therapeutic areas.
The development of new medicines may soon benefit from significant advances in molecular imaging techniques, following a substantial funding award to a Dutch research collaboration. The FORESIGHT consortium, led by researchers from several prominent Dutch institutions, has secured €9 million from Health~Holland to drive forward innovative approaches in drug development through molecular imaging technologies.
Responding to growing healthcare challenges
The initiative comes at a critical time, as healthcare systems face mounting pressures from increasing rates of oncological, autoimmune, cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases. These conditions not only affect growing numbers of patients but also threaten healthcare delivery and economic sustainability.
While targeted therapies offer promising solutions, their development pathway remains lengthy and expensive, with high failure rates during clinical trials. Even when new drugs reach market approval, efficacy can vary significantly between patients, limiting their therapeutic impact.
Advanced imaging to transform drug development
The FORESIGHT programme aims to address these challenges by deploying sophisticated nuclear and optical imaging techniques to track how drugs behave inside the body. These technologies will enable researchers to visualize and quantify drug distribution and interaction at cellular levels, potentially identifying why certain therapeutic agents succeed or fail.
A key component of the initiative is the integration of artificial intelligence with imaging biomarkers to map tissue properties with unprecedented precision. This combination promises to generate critical insights that could streamline drug development processes.
Cross-institutional expertise
The consortium brings together complementary expertise from leading Dutch institutions, including University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Amsterdam University Medical Centers (AUMC), Netherlands Cancer Institute (NKI/AVL), and Eindhoven University of Technology.
Professor Liesbeth de Vries from UMCG leads the collaborative effort alongside Professor Guus van Dongen (AUMC), Dr. John Haanen (NKI/AVL), and Professor Peter de With (TU Eindhoven). Together, they have established the FORESIGHT Service and Innovation Centre, creating a multidisciplinary hub where specialists in tracer development, bioengineering, imaging, and data analysis converge.
Potential industry impact
Beyond academic research, the FORESIGHT initiative will support drug trials conducted by university medical centres and the Netherlands Cancer Institute, while also extending services to pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and startups both nationally and internationally.
The consortium’s strategic approach aims to deliver multiple benefits: accelerating drug development timelines, reducing development costs through higher success rates, and improving patient outcomes through more precise therapeutic targeting.
This focused integration of advanced molecular imaging into the drug development pipeline represents a significant shift in approach, potentially offering more efficient pathways from laboratory discoveries to effective treatments for patients with complex diseases.
Health~Holland, part of the Top Sector Life Sciences & Health initiative, provided the funding as part of its mission to drive innovation that delivers both economic advantages and societal benefits across the healthcare spectrum.
