Acerta Pharma: a grand pharmaceutical adventure in Brabant

Ria Hein, Program Manager Life Sciences & Medtech at BOM: “BOM and multiple regional partners immediately jumped into action mode. We wanted to retain as much of the knowledge, expertise, and manpower of Organon in Brabant as possible.”

Retaining talent for Brabant

A collaboration of regional parties, which also included BOM, was tasked by the Province of North Brabant to come up with a rescue plan. This consisted of several components; 'scouting' entrepreneurs within Organon's workforce was one of them. Ria: “We mapped out which existing and new ideas were present among the professionals and which spin-offs could be realized after the dissolution of Organon.”

Which employees are cut from the right cloth to start their own business and set up an innovative startup? Eventually, BOM spoke to nearly 200 potential entrepreneurs with an idea. After selection, there were 25 serious candidates left. BOM guided fifteen of them for a longer period; most of those companies still exist and are doing exceptionally well. One of the 'finds' was the duo Allard Kaptein and Tjeerd Barf. They were already working with many colleagues at Organon on the development of a candidate drug for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and certain types of blood cancer. Due to strategic decisions within MSD, work was not continued at the end of 2009.

A solution for a healthier future

Tjeerd and Allard had a unique product with a lot of potential and future prospects. Ria: "Their personalities were decisive. If you've worked at a corporate company for years, starting a business is a different ball game. You have to be suited for it. Allard and Tjeerd turned out to be driven entrepreneurs, they work incredibly hard and engage the right contacts at the right time.”

Allard Kaptein: "Setting up a research plan is very different from starting a company from a scientific idea. With the help of BOM and its network, we have been able to turn our ideas into a business plan. This has greatly helped us valorize our scientific ideas.”

Medicine against cancer
 

Tjeerd and Allard were then still working under the name Covalution Pharma. Later it became Acerta Pharma. They worked with a molecule that specifically targets certain types of blood cancer. The two entrepreneurs were determined to obtain a license to work with a series of chemical molecules that fall under MSD's patent.

Rise of Pivot Park

The company remained in Oss. After the disappearance of Organon, BOM, the aspiring entrepreneurs, and partners – including the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the municipality of Oss, and MSD NL – worked hard to keep all of Organon's facilities there. Ria: "Together we considered the business plan; what should it look like, what is needed? How can it sustain itself? Who will manage it? Many 'hardware' and facilities were already there and could be repurposed: buildings, equipment, glassware. That was the beginning of Pivot Park, now the drug development hotspot in the region."

Tjeerd Barf: "BOM had a connecting role in establishing and making Pivot Park successful. Entrepreneurs were provided with a toolbox to help build their new businesses. The result is a working ecosystem for life sciences companies, which we will enjoy for a long time."

Pivot Park grew very quickly in ten years; in terms of size, it is now comparable to the Leiden BioScience Park. Over a thousand people now work at sixty companies on new medicines, vaccines, and treatment therapies. Ria: "This is fantastic for our province. Not only for employment. It also creates the conditions for another – even more important –ambition that we as a society have expressed: to live healthily for longer."

Allard reflects: "At the start of Pivot Park, many people and parties said a life sciences park in Brabant would never be a success. Later, I often heard from people how happy they were to have misjudged that. Due to growth and network initiatives, Pivot Park is becoming an increasingly attractive environment to establish yourself as a life sciences company."
 

A big deal for big pharma

In 2013, BioGeneration Ventures and BOM joined as shareholders of Acerta Pharma through the Life Sciences & Health Fund B.V., including a financial injection from three American investors. Acerta Pharma continues to work and test, conducting clinical studies. The company sees promising results in the first patients, confirming what they always believed: this candidate drug works.

To scale up, large pharmaceutical companies are needed, and soon several of them show interest. In 2015, the Acerta Pharma team decided to sell (part of) their company to the Swedish/British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca. To get the product towards registration as soon as possible. AstraZeneca acquired a 55% stake in the company for 4 billion dollars, with an option to purchase the remaining shares. After achieving the product registration objectives, another approximately 2.5 billion dollars was paid for the remaining 45% of the shares. An excellent deal, not only because of the financial return, but also because Acerta Pharma would remain as an organization under AstraZeneca and could continue to develop. Good news for all the people who have started working there and for Oss as a talent magnet.
 

Ria: “This deal was also a huge win for BOM. Moreover, we now had the funds again to help new companies, invest in other innovative startups in Brabant, and sustainably strengthen the Brabant economy. As a partner and investor from the very beginning, we are proud of the development that Acerta Pharma – and other young ex-Organon companies like Innatos, Bioconnection, and Glycostem and Bionovion - are undergoing at Pivot Park in Oss.”

Thousands of patients already helped

In late October 2017, the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Acerta's drug for the treatment of patients with mantle cell lymphoma and in 2019 for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. As of February 1, 2023, the drug has been included in the basic package of health insurers in the Netherlands for the treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Meanwhile, the medication is being used to treat tens of thousands of patients worldwide.

Entrepreneurship in Brabant

In 2024, more than 110 people will be working in R&D at Acerta Pharma, focused on developing new drugs for hematological developments. Entrepreneurs Tjeerd and Allard are no longer involved with Acerta Pharma, but they continue to actively apply their ideas and entrepreneurship, including in the Brabant ecosystem. Allard is currently actively involved with three startups, all three based at the Pivot Park in Oss, one of which is co-financed by BOM. Tjeerd is also involved with various startups, particularly in Leiden and Oss.

“If you have a true entrepreneurial spirit, it doesn't just disappear when you sell your company,” says Ria. “I dare say that Brabant could use more 'enterprising entrepreneurs' like Tjeerd and Allard: creative out-of-the-box thinkers, who also dare to take a little risk. It's commendable that they choose to continue to be entrepreneurial, for a healthier future.”