Hybridize Therapeutics is a spin-off from the Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC). The LUMC has been a frontrunner in both Nephrology & RNA-based medicine since 1943. Prof. Dr. Willem Kolff, inventor of the kidney dialysis machine (1943), studied Medicine at the LUMC, while Prof. Dr. Jacques van Boom played a pivotal pioneering role in oligonucleotide chemistry (LUMC, 1975).

Dr. Eric van der Veer (Founder Hybridize) joined the Nephrology Department of the LUMC as a post doc fellow in 2007. During his extensive research period (2007-2015) he focused mainly on RNA-based therapies for kidney diseases. His first breakthrough project focused on a very specific protein that regulates tissue injury through inflammation & fibrosis. His second breakthrough project focused on the kidney virus (BK-virus) that leads to devastating clinical complications in kidney transplant and hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients.

In September 2019, Eric founded Hybridize Therapeutics in the Leiden Bioscience Park, a setting that had proven to be fertile soil for numerous RNA therapeutic companies. The vision was simple: helping kidney patients overcome untreated diseases with high unmet medical needs using RNA-based therapeutics. Shortly after founding Hybridize, it was strengthened by Nightbalance Founder and CEO Eline van Beest following the successful exit of her company to Philips Healthcare. Almost simultaneously, Bianca Matthee and Alexander Mentink joined Hybridize, completing the team that has enabled Hybridize to forge itself into a successful RNA-based therapeutic company focused on developing kidney-protecting modalities for untreated kidney diseases.