ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ

The goal of Utrecht Life Sciences (ULS) is to intensify cooperation in the areas of education, research & innovation by providing state of the art shared infrastructures. Early 2017, a public-private partnership between Nutricia, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ and the UMC Utrecht resulted in the opening of the Nutritional Clinical Research Unit (NCRU), a Phase I unit that focuses purely on food and nutrients. The development of this shared facility was jointly led by Ardy van Helvoort (Nutricia Research) and Freek van Muiswinkel (Utrecht Life Sciences).

Filling a necessary gap

"This is the first and only facility for performing nutritional research involving human volunteers, and fills a necessary gap on campus. The goals of this facility are to strengthen preclinical evidence, which may contribute to minimizing the use of animal models, and to accelerate the transition into patient clinical trials. As in any clinical trial, safety is paramount. By conducting Phase I safety and efficacy studies in (healthy) volunteers, we can quickly develop, evaluate or verify biomarkers, such as glucose tolerance, kinetics, bioavailability, ischemic index. This maximizes the likelihood that a positive outcome will be achieved in a larger clinical trial," explains van Helvoort.

According to Van Helvoort the location is what’s most advantageous about the NCRU: "At Utrecht Science Park, and under the greater umbrella of Utrecht Life Sciences, we have the unique opportunity to capitalize on the university/academic hospital/industry ecosystem. This means that we have immediate access to excellent science to generate and test hypotheses, as well as the patient populations that may benefit from our new discoveries."

We hope that we can trigger enthusiasm around campus and together further close the gap between preclinical and clinical research.

Considering more than just the therapeutic value of food

Van Helvoort continues: "Because we’re asking healthy volunteers to become test subjects, we specifically and thoughtfully designed the NCRU to adhere to clinical standards without detracting from a welcoming and friendly atmosphere. It’s housed on the second floor of Nutricia (to protect volunteer privacy) with a lot of natural light streaming in through the large windows that surround the unit. Just a walk down the hall brings you to our sensory lab, where we conduct consumer research. This is often the first opportunity to offer volunteers new food components and we observe the reactions and input from volunteers regarding the look and handling of a packaged item, how it would fit into daily activities, taste testing and even the experience of taking a nutrient treatment – all aspects of nutrient therapy that influence patient compliance."

Who can use the NCRU?

The NCRU is available to researchers at any of the three partners (Nutricia Research, Utrecht ľ¹Ï¸£ÀûÓ°ÊÓ, UMC Utrecht). If you’re interested in conducting a healthy volunteer Phase I study, NCRU welcomes you to make an appointment to discuss the possibilities. We can help you develop and manage a study, from initial design to execution and lab analysis to providing trained medical and non-medical staff.

"We hope that we can trigger enthusiasm around campus and together further close the gap between preclinical and clinical research", concludes Van Muiswinkel.