European Cancer Patient Coalition

What European Cancer Patient Coalition does

The European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) is a non-profit patient advocacy organisation (AISBL under Belgian law) headquartered in Brussels, founded in 2003 to serve as the unified voice of cancer patients across Europe. Its core customers are cancer patients, their families, and the national/regional patient organisations that constitute ECPC's membership; secondary stakeholders include cancer researchers, healthcare professionals, and EU policymakers. The organisation delivers value through three integrated activities: (i) pan-European policy advocacy at the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of the EU, and the European Medicines Agency on issues including access to medicines, immuno-oncology, biosimilars, health technology assessment, right-to-be-forgotten, employment rights, and survivorship; (ii) a curated suite of patient-facing educational tools — Clinical Trials Database, ESMO Cancer Patient Guides, Immuno-Oncology Portal, Personalised Medicine and Biosimilars e-modules, Nutrition Booklet, and Cancer Associated Thrombosis Tool — distributed free through ecpc.org; and (iii) participation as coordinator or partner in EU-funded (Horizon 2020, Horizon Europe, IMI2) clinical and translational research consortia such as ImmunoSABR, SALVOVAR, Immune-Image, and Pal-Cycles, alongside pharmaceutical industry supporters including Roche, Bayer, Janssen, Novartis and Pfizer. Its revenue model is non-commercial: it derives operating income from EU research grants, membership fees, donations, and industry partner support, without selling products or services. The organisation is governance-led, run by a Board elected by its membership, with a small Brussels-based secretariat (11–50 employees) including President Ken Mastris and Director Antonella Cardone. ECPC celebrated its 20th anniversary with a Brussels Congress in June 2023.

Name

European Cancer Patient Coalition

Legal name

European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) AISBL

Website

https://ecpc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) is a Brussels-based non-profit founded in 2003 that serves as the unified voice of cancer patients across Europe, providing policy advocacy at EU institutions, patient-facing educational tools, and participation in EU-funded clinical research consortia.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Patient Advocacy Services

NAICS

Professional Organizations (81392)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Regulatory Submissions & Clinical Content Management (eCTD/Publishing) (HLACAOAN)

Keywords

• Cancer patient advocacy
• Health policy influence
• Patient education resources
• EU cancer research
• Palliative care programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

ECPC is a non-profit cancer patient umbrella organization that represents the voice of cancer patients at the European level. Its core offering is patient advocacy delivered through EU policy representation, development and free distribution of patient educational tools and e-modules, training through the Cancer Advocacy Academy, and partnership in EU-funded oncology research consortia.

Product overview

The European Cancer Patient Coalition (ECPC) is a patient advocacy organization, not a technology product company. ECPC provides a unified voice for cancer patients across Europe, offering educational resources, tools, and e-modules for patients. The organization's portfolio includes patient-facing resources such as the Clinical Trials Database, ESMO Cancer Patient Guides, Nutrition Booklet, Immuno-oncology Portal, and various e-modules on genetics, biosimilars, and health technology assessment. ECPC also participates in EU-funded research projects including Immuno-Image (imaging immune cells for immunotherapy), ImmunoSABR (immunotherapy combined with radiotherapy for lung cancer), SALVOVAR (ovarian cancer treatment), and Pal-Cycles (palliative care communication). These research projects are collaborative academic initiatives, not commercial products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Clinical Trials Database Online database that helps cancer patients across Europe locate and understand clinical trials relevant to their condition.
• ESMO Cancer Patient Guides Patient-friendly guides developed with the European Society for Medical Oncology to help cancer patients understand their diagnosis and treatment options.
• Immuno-oncology Portal (IOP) Web-based educational portal providing patients and advocates with information on immuno-oncology treatments and the science behind them.
• Personalised Medicine Tool Educational resource explaining personalised medicine concepts to cancer patients, including diagnostics, targeted therapies, and access considerations.
• Nutrition Booklet Booklet providing cancer patients with guidance on nutrition during and after cancer treatment.
• Biosimilars E-module E-learning module explaining biosimilar medicines to cancer patients and advocates to support informed decision-making.
• Genetics and Genomics Testing E-Module E-learning module explaining genetic and genomic testing in cancer to patients and advocates.
• Health Technology Assessment E-Module E-learning module introducing patients and advocates to Health Technology Assessment processes used in reimbursement decisions.
• Biobanking Tool Educational tool explaining biobanking and its role in cancer research to patients and advocates.
• Bone Health Tool Educational tool addressing bone health issues faced by cancer patients, particularly those affected by bone metastases or treatment-related bone loss.
• Cancer Associated Thrombosis (CAT) Tool Educational tool informing cancer patients and clinicians about cancer-associated thrombosis risk, prevention, and management.
• Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Web Hub Online hub providing information and resources for patients with non-melanoma skin cancer.
• Cancer Advocacy Academy Training programme including a Social Media Manual to build advocacy capacity among European cancer patient advocates and member organizations.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• European Medicines Agency (EMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECPC has formal engagement with EMA as a patient organization representative, participating in EMA procedures and providing patient perspective on medicines regulation.
• Maastricht UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead coordinator of ImmunoSABR project - a European clinical trial combining immunotherapy and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy for lung cancer. Funded by Horizon 2020 Grant No 733008.
• Lyon University Hospital (HCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead coordinator of SALVOVAR project for ovarian cancer treatment research. Partner in Horizon programme clinical project involving six countries (UK, France, Italy, Czech Republic, Israel, Netherlands) and 100 recruitment centers.
• Stichting VUMCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in Immune-Image project funded by IMI2 under grant agreement No 831514, developing specific imaging of immune cell dynamics using novel tracer strategies for cancer immunotherapy.
• Stichting Radboud Universitair Medisch CentrumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLead coordinator of Pal-Cycles project (Grant Agreement No 101057243) - a Horizon Research and Innovation Action on patient-centred palliative cancer care in community settings, running 2022-2027.
• Roche, Bayer, Janssen, Novartis, PfizerminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPharmaceutical company partners in the Immune-Image project, providing industry perspective on immune imaging tracers and contributing to the IMI2 public-private partnership.
• Technical University of Denmark, Academic Hospital Maastricht, KU Leuven, and 16 other European institutionscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partners in ImmunoSABR consortium including academic hospitals and universities across Europe contributing to clinical trial on immunotherapy and radiotherapy for lung cancer.
• European Association of Palliative CareminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization in Pal-Cycles project bringing palliative care expertise to the consortium focused on improving continuity of cancer care in community settings.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• European Cancer Organisation: Multi-stakeholder European cancer organisation engaging EU policymakers, healthcare professionals, and patient groups. Comparable to ECPC as the principal non-disease-specific cancer policy platform in Brussels, with overlapping engagement on Europe's Beating Cancer Plan.
• EURORDIS - Rare Diseases Europe: Brussels-based coalition representing rare disease patient organisations across Europe. Directly comparable governance, funding model, and policy-advocacy model to ECPC; operates as a peer patient coalition within EMA procedures and EU rare disease policy.
• International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO): Global alliance of patient organisations across disease areas. Comparable to ECPC in mission (patient voice in policy, capacity building for member organisations) and governance, with broader geographic scope but overlapping policy advocacy frameworks.
• European Patients' Forum: Brussels-based umbrella coalition of European patient organisations across disease areas. Directly comparable to ECPC in structure (membership coalition, EU policy advocacy, EU funding dependency) and operates as a peer voice in EU health policy consultations alongside ECPC.

Broad incumbents

• Cancer Research UK: UK-based cancer charity combining research funding, patient information, and policy advocacy. Comparable in advocacy and patient-information functions but with a much larger research-grant operation and primarily UK (rather than EU) orientation.
• American Cancer Society: US-based nationwide voluntary health organisation covering cancer advocacy, patient support, and research funding. Comparable mission and operating model to ECPC but at far greater scale and with primarily US geographic scope.

Emerging players

• European Public Health Alliance (EPHA): Brussels-based NGO coalition working on broader European public health policy. Comparable to ECPC in EU advocacy infrastructure and membership-coalition model, with a wider disease scope and overlapping engagement on EU health legislation.
• Europa Donna - The European Breast Cancer Coalition: European advocacy coalition focused specifically on breast cancer. Member of the ECPC network but operates as a focused-disease counterpart, with comparable EU policy engagement on screening, access, and research funding.

Others

• International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC/WHO): WHO specialised agency for cancer research headquartered in Lyon. Comparable to ECPC's research-coordination and dissemination functions but as a UN intergovernmental body rather than a patient-organisation coalition; overlaps on European cancer-research agenda-setting.
• European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA): Brussels-based trade association representing the European pharmaceutical industry. Frequently engages ECPC as a counterparty in EU policy discussions on access to medicines, HTA, and clinical trials — comparable in Brussels policy arena but representing industry rather than patient perspective.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/cancereu
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCYWQlDpVN8swD42ixKEKlHg
• Facebookfacebook.com/ECPCfb
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/european-cancer-patient-coalition
• Instagraminstagram.com/ecpcoalition

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about European Cancer Patient Coalition