Jonge Ondernemingsprijs awarded to UG graduate Nutte van Belzen

On 3 October, the Jonge Ondernemingsprijs 2019 [JOP, Young Entrepreneurs Award] was awarded to Nutte van Belzen’s Groningen-based company CC Diagnostics. Van Belzen is a UG alumnus who founded his company to exploit an unused patent held by the University, which he and two other students had been allowed to use in an Extracurricular Course on Entrepreneurship of the University of Groningen Centre of Entrepreneurship (UGCE). After completing this course, they took part in the VentureLab Weekend. This was a stepping stone to the VentureLab North year programme, which supports young entrepreneurs in setting up and expanding their company.

CC Diagnostics is developing a new cervical cancer test using PCR testing of methylated genes, which will replace the current triage test (the Pap smear). The methylation test is more accurate and may decrease the number of ‘missed’ cancer cases from 24% to 3%. It also reduces the number of false positives. In the Netherlands alone, these factors could lead to an annual decrease in healthcare costs of € 2.9 million.

The jury was especially impressed by the fact that Van Belzen is a physician and an entrepreneur. The jury also praised him for the development of the new cervical cancer test.

Open this link to watch the pitch that Nutte held for the JOP award.