Lygature

What Lygature does

Lygature (Stichting Lygature) is a Dutch not-for-profit foundation headquartered in Utrecht that operates as an independent, neutral third-party enabler of public-private partnerships in the life sciences and health sector. The foundation was formed on 1 January 2016 through the merger of CTMM (Center for Translational Molecular Medicine, est. 2008) and TI Pharma (Top Institute Pharma, est. 2007), bringing together legacy portfolios of €321M and €274M respectively. Today Lygature functions less as a single-product company and more as a portfolio orchestrator: it manages more than twenty named initiatives across six categories — national data infrastructure (Health-RI, BBMRI.nl, TraIT, Parelsnoer Institute, FAIRplus, Personal Health Train), strategic asset-sharing consortia in therapeutic areas (EPND, RADAR-CNS, RADAR-AD, IDERHA, PREDICTOM, ILLUMINATE, MOMENTUM, APPROACH, CONTRAST, Immune-Image, ReSToRe, European Lead Factory), global health programmes (UNITE4TB, KITT, GNA NOW), regulatory and ethics networks (COREON), strategic alliances (CPBT, Oncode Institute), and shared service lines (expertise sharing, partnership management, partnership strategy & advice). Internal platforms include MyProjectPlaza for consortium communication and FAIR-data tooling.

Lygature's customer base spans pharmaceutical and biotech companies, all eight Dutch university medical centres, patient organizations, and EU/national public funders. Its revenue model is not commercial: the foundation is funded through consortium management fees, Dutch National Growth Fund allocations (e.g., €68.5M for Health-RI, €124.5M for CPBT), IMI/IHI and Horizon Europe grants, and in-kind industry contributions. Its geographic footprint covers all major European markets plus North America (US, Canada) and Australia via specific consortia. With 11-50 employees, Lygature relies on a multidisciplinary staff and a Scientific Advisory Board for governance, and differentiates by acting as a safe, neutral intermediary that absorbs program-management, finance, legal, and communication complexity so partners can focus on core science. Its 20-year anniversary in 2026 (counting from predecessor organizations) underscores institutional durability rather than commercial scale.

Name

Lygature

Legal name

Stichting Lygature

Website

https://lygature.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Lygature is a Dutch not-for-profit foundation that enables public-private partnerships in life sciences and health research, managing multi-partner consortia across pharmaceutical companies, academic medical centers, and patient organizations to accelerate medical innovation and translate research into patient impact.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Public-Private Partnership Management Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (541)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Global Health Research, Evidence & Technical Assistance Organizations (HLAJAKAN)

akta.pro secondary industries

Global Health Research, Clinical Trials & Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) (HLAJAOAM), Real-World Data (RWD) / Real-World Evidence (RWE) & Observational Research Platforms (HLACAOAM), Healthcare Outcomes & Real-World Evidence (RWE) Analytics (BPAHALAN), Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Public-private partnerships
• Partnership management services
• Life sciences collaboration
• Health research consortia
• Data infrastructure platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Utrecht

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Partnership Management Services: Lygature operates as a not-for-profit organization enabling public-private partnerships in life sciences and health. Revenue is generated through managing collaborative research consortia, with funding from government grants (such as Dutch National Growth Fund, FES/Fond Economische Structuurversterking), industry contributions, and academic partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Lygature is a not-for-profit foundation that enables, drives, and supports public-private partnerships in life sciences and health research. It provides partnership management services including project coordination, consortium building, proposal writing, stakeholder engagement, finance, and communication support. The organization also delivers expertise sharing across drug discovery, patient engagement, data infrastructure, global health, health law/ethics, and regulatory innovation.

Product overview

Lygature is a not-for-profit organization that enables public-private partnerships in life sciences and health, operating as a portfolio of collaborative initiatives rather than a single product. The offering comprises: (1) Data Infrastructure platforms including Health-RI (national health research infrastructure), BBMRI.nl (biobanking), TraIT (translational research IT), Parelsnoer Institute (clinical biobanks), European Lead Factory (drug discovery compound library), Immune-Image (molecular imaging), ReSToRe (data management), FAIRplus (FAIR data guidelines), Personal Health Train (data connectivity), and BIGPICTURE (digital pathology AI); (2) Strategic Asset Sharing projects covering therapeutic areas including oncology (ILLUMINATE, MOMENTUM), neurodegeneration (EPND, PREDICTOM, RADAR-AD, RADAR-CNS), stroke (CONTRAST), musculoskeletal (APPROACH), and other disease areas; (3) Global Health initiatives including UNITE4TB, KITT, GNA NOW, and Pediatric Praziquantel Consortium; (4) Healthlaw, Ethics & Privacy expertise including COREON; (5) Strategic Alliances such as CPBT (animal-free biomedical translation) and Oncode Institute; and (6) Partnership management services including expertise sharing, program management, consortium building, and regulatory innovation. Lygature provides independent coordination, program management, and communication support across all initiatives, functioning as an ecosystem that connects academia, industry, and society to accelerate medical innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Partnership Management Core service providing project coordination, resource management, stakeholder management, business development, legal support, finance, and communication services for public-private partnerships. Designed for consortium leaders and partners in life sciences and health research collaborations.
• Expertise Sharing Multidisciplinary expertise offering across six centres: Drug Discovery & Development, Patient and Public Involvement, Data Infrastructure, Global Health, Health Law/Privacy/Ethics, and Regulatory Innovation. Provides specialized knowledge for life sciences partnerships.
• Partnership Strategy & Advice Strategic services including consortium building, proposal writing and application management, and organization building for health sector partnerships. Supports new and existing public-private partnerships in their formation and development.

Quantifiable outcome

• 20 years of pioneering partnerships for patient impact
• +3 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

23 partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Lygature LIVE 2026 StakeholderscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 2 July 2026Annual flagship event bringing together stakeholders from across academia, industry, patient organizations, and policymaking to reflect on partnership achievements and explore future opportunities in health innovation. The 2026 event marked Lygature's 20-year anniversary.
• Centre for Animal-Free Biomedical Translation (CPBT) PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational center for valorizing and disseminating animal-free innovations with 60+ partners including academic institutions (Amsterdam UMC, Erasmus MC, LUMC, UMC Utrecht), pharmaceutical companies (AstraZeneca, Roche, Sanofi, Genmab), patient organizations, and government bodies (RIVM, Ministry of LVVN). Budget of 245 million euros (2025-2034) including 124.5 million euros from Dutch National Growth Fund.
• Health-RI Founding PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegrated research infrastructure initiative with founding partners including BBMRI-NL, ELIXIR-NL, EATRIS-NL, NFU, DTL, and Health~Holland. 78 supporting organizations working to connect biomedical research infrastructures in the Netherlands for personalized medicine.
• European Lead Factory ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPan-European drug discovery project established in 2013 with 30 partners including major pharmaceutical companies (Bayer, AstraZeneca, Janssen, Merck KGaA, UCB, Grünenthal, Servier), academic institutions (University of Dundee, University of Oxford), and screening centers (Pivot Park Screening Centre). Library of 555,000 unique chemical compounds supporting 185 drug discovery projects.
• ILLUMINATE ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative research project on theranostics improving Lutetium-177 production and Metabolic MRI for prostate cancer treatment. 15 European partners including University Medical Centre Utrecht, EURO-BIOIMAGING ERIC, Philips, Bracco Imaging, and academic institutions across Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Sweden. Budget of €21 million over 4.5 years.
• APPROACH Project ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMI-funded osteoarthritis clinical research project with 25 partners across Europe including academic medical centers (UMC Utrecht, LUMC, Newcastle University), pharmaceutical companies (GSK, Merck, Servier), and arthritis societies. €15 million funding from IMI and EFPIA.
• RADAR-CNS ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMI-funded project for monitoring depression, epilepsy, and multiple sclerosis using wearables and smartphones. 22 partners in Europe and US including King's College London, Janssen Pharmaceutica, academic institutions across Europe (Charité, Karolinska, etc.), and pharmaceutical companies (Biogen, Lundbeck, UCB). €25 million funding.
• RADAR-AD ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIMI-funded project for monitoring Alzheimer's disease progression using wearable devices and smartphone technology. 16 partners including King's College London, Janssen Pharmaceutica, academic institutions (Oxford, Karolinska), pharmaceutical companies (Novartis, Eli Lilly, Takeda), and Alzheimer Europe. €7.4 million funding.
• EPND ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Platform for Neurodegenerative Diseases integrating existing initiatives for biomarker discovery. 29 European partners managed by University of Maastricht, University of Leicester, Gates Ventures, and UCB Biopharma. 19 million euros initial budget from European Commission and EFPIA.
• IDERHA ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegration of heterogeneous data for regulatory and HTA acceptance in lung cancer research. 33 partners including academic, clinical, medtech, pharmaceutical, IT and patient advocacy organizations across EU. 36 million EUR funding over 5 years starting April 2023.
• MOMENTUM ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal collaboration for MR-guided radiation therapy using Elekta's MR-Linac system. 21 partners in EU, UK, Canada, US, and Australia including UMC Utrecht, Elekta, NKI-AVL, ICR/Royal Marsden, MD Anderson, and 14 world-leading oncology centers. 7.5 year project (2018-2026) with over 5,000 patients registered.
• Immune-Image ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSustainable platform for molecular imaging of immune cell dynamics using novel tracer strategies. Partners include Amsterdam UMC, Roche, Janssen Immunology, Bayer, Novartis, Pfizer, Takeda, academic institutions (Cambridge, UMCG, Tübingen), and VIB. 15M EUR EU contribution funding.
• Parelsnoer Institute PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational network of standardized clinical biobanks established by Dutch Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU). 8 participating UMCs managing 18 clinical cohorts (Pearls) with over 538,000 biospecimens from 30,000+ patients.
• TraIT PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTranslational Research IT infrastructure project with 32 partners including all Dutch university medical centers, charities (Dutch Cancer Foundation, Dutch Heart Foundation), and private partners (Philips, Roche, GSK). €19 million funding, >4,000 users.
• BBMRI.nl PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDutch National Biobank Infrastructure as part of BBMRI-ERIC consortium. 20 partners from Netherlands including all UMCs, Netherlands Cancer Institute, Parelsnoer, PALGA, SURFsara, The Hyve, and others. €12.5M funding from NWO.
• CONTRAST ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration for New Treatments of Acute Stroke with 9 partners including academic medical centers (AMC, Erasmus MC, Maastricht UMC, Radboudumc, UMCG, UMC Utrecht), Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale (INSERM), and Stryker. €14 million funding.
• CTMM Portfolio PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCenter for Translational Molecular Medicine (CTMM) portfolio with 133 partners including all Dutch university medical centers, universities, and 90+ companies. €321 million allocated budget until end of 2015. Merged with TI Pharma to form Lygature in January 2016.
• TI Pharma FES Projects PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTop Institute Pharma FES-funded portfolio (2007-2013) with 96 partners including 26 knowledge institutes, 21 large and 43 smaller industrial players, Dutch Medicines Evaluation Board, patient organizations, and almost 2,000 contributing researchers. €274 million in FES, business and academia funding. Merged with CTMM to form Lygature.
• ReSToRe ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCell therapy development for multiple sclerosis with 6 European academic partners and 2 SMEs including University of Antwerp, German Trias i Pujol Research Institute, Clinica Universidad Navarra, Sanquin, Universitaetsklinikum Münster, and icoMetrix. €5.4M from Horizon 2020.
• PD-MIND ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical trial for Parkinson's disease with mild cognitive impairment using nicotinic receptor agonist. Partners include King's College London, University of Exeter, AstraZeneca, and European clinical centers. €2.1M funding from IMI and EFPIA.
• PREDICTOM ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDementia diagnostic biomarkers and AI screening platform development. 30 partners including Helse Stavanger HF, King's College London, GE HealthCare, Siemens Healthineers, Novo Nordisk, academic institutions, and patient organizations. 8.5M EUR EU contribution.
• COREON NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommittee on Regulation of Health Research - expert network of researchers committed to balanced regulation of observational health research. Important discussion partner for policymakers, ZonMw, and Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport.
• Strategic Alliances ProjectscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIncludes Oncode Institute outsmarting cancer, Health-RI connecting health resources, TI Pharma Portfolio FES Projects, and CTMM Portfolio public-private partnerships for medical technologies.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• EATRIS: European infrastructure for translational medicine that coordinates multi-institution consortia across academia and industry. Directly comparable to Lygature as a publicly funded, neutral enabler of European life-sciences public-private partnerships.
• Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH): US nonprofit that convenes NIH, FDA, academia, and industry to manage large biomedical research partnerships. Comparable to Lygature's role managing ELF, RADAR, and EPND as cross-sector consortia coordinators.
• Critical Path Institute: US-based nonprofit that creates consortia (e.g., with FDA, EMA, pharma) to develop drug development tools and data standards. Direct peer to Lygature in operating as a neutral third party that drives consortia-based regulatory and data science initiatives.
• EDCTP (Global Health EDCTP3 Joint Undertaking): European public partnership funding clinical trials for poverty-related diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. Comparable to Lygature's global-health projects (UNITE4TB, KITT) in mission, structure, and stakeholder mix.
• ELIXIR: Intergovernmental life-science data infrastructure organisation coordinating bioinformatics resources across Europe. Comparable to Lygature's Health-RI and TraIT data-infrastructure programs, both serving as neutral coordinators of distributed research assets.
• Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi): Product development partnership focused on neglected-disease drug development. Comparable to Lygature's GNA NOW and UNITE4TB programs, both being multi-partner, mission-driven PDPs coordinating R&D across public and private actors.
• BBMRI-ERIC: European biobanking research infrastructure consortium. Comparable because Lygature manages BBMRI.nl, the Dutch node, and both bodies coordinate multi-country, multi-partner research infrastructure programs.
• Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV): Product development partnership for antimalarial drug R&D. Comparable to Lygature as a neutral coordinator of industry-academia-public consortia for global health drug development.
• Innovative Health Initiative (IHI): EU public-private partnership (formerly IMI) funding cross-sector health research consortia. Directly comparable to Lygature, which manages several IMI-funded consortia (APPROACH, RADAR-AD, RADAR-CNS, Immune-Image) on behalf of its members.

Emerging players

• Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT): Japanese public-private partnership funding global health R&D. Comparable to Lygature's global health coordination activities, though geographically distinct and operating at a different funding scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

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Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Lygature