COPSAC

What COPSAC does

COPSAC — the Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood — is a clinical research unit embedded at Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte, Denmark, with a satellite research unit at Næstved Hospital. Founded in 2002 by Professor Hans Bisgaard (who passed away in September 2022), COPSAC operates as a multidisciplinary research institution specializing in pediatric asthma, atopic diseases, and related chronic inflammatory and immune-mediated conditions. It currently runs five longitudinal mother-child cohorts — COPSAC2000 (411 children of asthmatic mothers), COPSAC2010 (700 children from population-based enrollment), COPSACSEVERE (~300 children with severe asthma), COPSACACUTE (preschoolers with acute exacerbations), and COPSACDAILYGUT (12 families with daily infant stool sampling) — totaling approximately 1,111 participating families followed from pregnancy through adolescence.

The institution's technological platform centers on deep phenotyping using daily diary cards, standardized clinical assessments (infant spirometry, whole-body plethysmography, bronchial challenge testing, DEXA scans, accelerometry), and an integrated multi-omics stack combining host genetics (genome-wide SNP genotyping), microbiome and virome sequencing (16S rRNA), immune profiling, and breathomics via thermal desorption-gas chromatography time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Biobank operations span longitudinal collection of blood, urine, feces, breast milk, skin swabs, and airway samples. The organization is governed by a Board of Directors chaired by Michael Christiansen and led operationally by Director Bo Chawes (Professor of Paediatrics, MD, PhD, DMSc) following the 2022 leadership transition.

COPSAC does not sell products or services. Its revenue model is entirely grant-funded: competitive research grants and institutional appropriations from Danish foundations (Lundbeck Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, A.P. Møller Fonden, Trygfonden), Danish public sources (Danish Health Authority, Innovationsfonden, Independent Research Fund Denmark, Region Hovedstaden Forskningsfond), European programmes (European Research Council, Horizon Europe), and the US National Institutes of Health. Research dissemination occurs through peer-reviewed publications, scientific conferences, a Twitter/X account (@COPSAC_com), newsletters, science-communication videos, and parent-education literature. Active consortia include EAGLE, HEDIMED, EDIAQI, EarlyVir, COPSYCH (with CINS, 27M DKK Lundbeck Foundation grant), and RestoreGut (fecal microbiota transplantation trial with University of Copenhagen and Rigshospitalet).

Name

COPSAC

Legal name

COPSAC - Copenhagen Prospective Studies on Asthma in Childhood

Website

https://copsac.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

COPSAC is a Denmark-based clinical research unit at Copenhagen University Hospital, Gentofte, running five longitudinal mother-child birth cohorts (~1,111 families) to study pediatric asthma, allergies, and microbiome development using multi-omics and deep phenotyping, funded entirely by research grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Research Services

NAICS

Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Pediatric Pulmonology & Sleep Medicine (HLAKANAO)

akta.pro secondary industries

Molecular & Genetic Testing (PCR/NGS/qPCR) (HLAGADAF), Microbiology & Infectious Disease Testing (Trial Support) (HLAGAEAF)

Keywords

• Pediatric asthma research
• Birth cohort studies
• Longitudinal clinical phenotyping
• Multi-omics analysis
• Clinical research services

Headquarters

HQ city

Gentofte

HQ country

Denmark

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Research Funding: COPSAC is fully externally funded through grants from foundations (Lundbeck Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation), government agencies (Danish Health Authority, NIH), European Framework Programmes, and private foundations. Revenue comes from competitive research grants rather than commercial activities.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

COPSAC is a privately operated clinical research unit that runs five longitudinal birth cohort studies — COPSAC2000, COPSAC2010, COPSAC2014, COPSAC Severe Asthma, and COPSAC EarlyRisk — recruiting pregnant women and following mother-child pairs from birth into childhood and adolescence. The unit systematically collects deep clinical phenotyping data, biological samples, and multi-omic measurements (genomic, transcriptomic, metabolomic, microbiome) to investigate the origins, development, and risk factors of childhood asthma, allergies, eczema, and related pediatric conditions.

Product overview

COPSAC is a clinical research unit for pediatric asthma research that conducts longitudinal clinical mother-child cohorts with deep phenotyping and exposure assessment. The organization operates five distinct research cohorts: the COPSAC2000 Cohort (411 children of asthmatic mothers), COPSAC2010 Cohort (700 children from pregnancy), COPSACSEVERE Cohort (~300 children with severe asthma), COPSACACUTE Cohort (preschoolers with acute asthma), and COPSACDAILYGUT Cohort (daily infant stool samples from 12 families). COPSAC offers research collaboration opportunities providing access to clinical assessments, environmental exposures, OMICS analyses, and biological samples from their cohorts. The research is conducted under Good Clinical Practice (GCP) standards and the Declaration of Helsinki.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Quantifiable outcome

• n-3 LCPUFA supplementation reduced asthma and respiratory infections by 30% in children
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Center for Clinical Intervention and Neuropsychiatric Schizophrenia Research (CINS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018COPSYCH research alliance investigating effect of early life exposures on brain development, cognitive function, and psychopathological traits. Based on COPSAC2010 cohort of 700 mothers and children. Lundbeck Foundation provided 27 million DKK funding.
• HEDIMED Consortium (22 partners)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerHuman Exposomic Determinants of Immune Mediated Diseases consortium aiming to identify disease mechanisms and environmental factors of type 1 diabetes, celiac disease, asthma, and allergies. COPSAC contributes longitudinal cohort data and expertise.
• EDIAQI Consortium (18 organizations)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean Horizon Europe project studying indoor air pollution in European cities to understand sources, routes of exposure, and health effects. COPSAC contributes data on early-life diseases and indoor air quality associations.
• EAGLE ConsortiummajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEArly Genetics and Lifecourse Epidemiology consortium of pregnancy and birth cohorts investigating genetic basis of phenotypes in antenatal and early life. COPSAC is one of 14 participating cohorts including ALSPAC, Generation R, and MoBa.
• EarlyVir Consortium (Danish-French-Canadian collaboration)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInvestigates how gut virome is influenced by feeding regimes and dietary supplementation, and studies role of early-life virome in origins of chronic childhood disorders using COPSAC2010 cohort of 700 children.
• University of CopenhagencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner in RestoreGut study investigating restoration of gut microbiome after cesarean section using fecal microbiota transplantation to prevent asthma.
• RigshospitaletcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical partner in RestoreGut study with Nina Olsén Nathan as midwife and PhD student involved in the fecal microbiota transplantation trial.
• Hvidovre Hospital Clinical Microbiology UnitcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPerforms safety screening of donor material and prepares intervention transplants for RestoreGut fecal microbiota transplantation study.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ALSPAC (Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children): Birth cohort study based at the University of Bristol following children from pregnancy; a fellow EAGLE Consortium member alongside COPSAC with comparable longitudinal mother-child design and multi-omics phenotyping.
• Murdoch Children's Research Institute: Leading Australian pediatric research institute running birth cohort studies and childhood disease research including asthma and allergy; comparable mission and cohort-based methodology to COPSAC.
• Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study (MoBa): Large Norwegian pregnancy cohort study run by the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, also part of the EAGLE Consortium with COPSAC, comparable in scale and longitudinal birth cohort methodology.
• CHILD Cohort Study (Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development): Canadian birth cohort study recruiting 3,500+ families to study developmental origins of asthma, allergy, and chronic disease; directly comparable methodology and research focus to COPSAC's birth cohort approach.
• Generation R: Large population-based birth cohort in Rotterdam, Netherlands, following children from fetal life through young adulthood with deep phenotyping; co-member with COPSAC in the EAGLE Consortium and similar in design to COPSAC2010.
• Asthma UK Centre for Applied Research: UK-based collaborative research center focused on applied asthma research, including pediatric populations; comparable research mission and translational focus on childhood asthma outcomes.

Broad incumbents

• National Jewish Health: Leading US respiratory hospital and research institution with significant pediatric pulmonology and asthma research; broader clinical mandate but comparable depth in respiratory disease research.
• Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: Major US pediatric academic medical center with extensive pediatric pulmonology and asthma research programs; broader clinical care mission but overlapping research portfolio in childhood respiratory disease.
• Institute for Respiratory Health: Australian respiratory research institute focused on lung disease research including pediatric asthma; comparable research mission but broader respiratory disease focus rather than cohort-specific design.
• Karolinska Institutet Department of Women's and Children's Health: Major Swedish medical university with pediatric research programs including birth cohort studies (BAMSE) investigating asthma and allergic diseases in children; comparable research scope but broader institutional mandate.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/copsac_com
• Facebookfacebook.com/COPSACcom
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/copsac

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about COPSAC