LHUB-ULB

What LHUB-ULB does

LHUB-ULB (LHUB ULB ASBL) is a consolidated, multi-site university clinical biology laboratory created in October 2015 as the common lab of the Ville de Bruxelles / Université libre de Bruxelles hospital network. It operates across 9 hospital campuses, an 8,500 m² production footprint, and a network of 50+ sample collection centers, performing approximately 18 million analyses per year for partners including CHU Saint-Pierre, Hôpital Erasme, Institut Jules Bordet, and Hôpital Universitaire des Enfants Reine Fabiola. The portfolio is organized around six core analytical services — medical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, peri-analytical logistics, and quality — supplemented by pathological anatomy, a biobank, clinical study support, and 8 National Reference Centers for rare and infectious diseases.

The technology stack is built on high-throughput clinical analyzers (XN hematology platforms, CS5100 hemostasis), three 12-color flow cytometers for onco-hematology, a centralized automated bacteriology chain operating 24/7, a BSL-3 laboratory, and next-generation sequencing for hematological pathologies. Distribution combines on-site hospital collection, an expanding extrahospital network (since June 2025), home blood draws in Brussels and Walloon Brabant, the LabOnline web platform for healthcare professionals, and patient access via the federal masante.belgique.be portal. The lab holds ISO 15189 (BELAC 650-MED), EFI, and JACIE accreditations and complies with EU IVDR 2017/746.

Commercially, LHUB-ULB is structured as a non-profit ASBL under Belgian hospital law; ownership and governance rest with the founding hospitals through the Conseil d'Administration. Revenue is generated through clinical biology testing billed under INAMI nomenclature, with a mix of flat-rate and per-analysis components, third-party billing to Belgian mutuelles (Tiers Payant), and patient co-payments. The organization also runs a Technological Innovation Unit (UNIT) and pursues R&D partnerships with ULB, VUB, BBMRI, Biothèque Wallonie Bruxelles, and diagnostic industry partners, supporting ~60 peer-reviewed publications and 200+ Phase I-IV clinical studies annually.

Name

LHUB-ULB

Legal name

LHUB ULB ASBL

Website

https://lhub-ulb.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

LHUB-ULB is a Brussels-based consolidated university clinical biology laboratory serving the ULB hospital network across 9 campuses, performing ~18 million analyses per year. It hosts 8 National Reference Centers and is expanding into the extrahospital and retail ambulatory sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Laboratory Services

NAICS

Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAFAMAJ

Reference & Esoteric Testing Laboratories

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Healthcare Providers & Systems/Clinical Laboratories

SECONDARYHLAFAMAB

Clinical Chemistry & Immunoassay Laboratories

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Healthcare Providers & Systems/Clinical Laboratories

SECONDARYHLAFAMAA

Anatomic Pathology (Histopathology & Cytopathology)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Healthcare Providers & Systems/Clinical Laboratories

SECONDARYHLAGAEAB

Specialty & Biomarker Laboratory Services (Immunoassays/Flow/Cytometry)

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Life Science Tools & Services (CRO/CDMO/Lab Services)/Central Labs & Clinical Diagnostics Services (Trial Support)

Keywords

• Clinical biology services
• Medical laboratory testing
• Hematology diagnostics
• Microbiology testing
• Immunology diagnostics

Headquarters

HQ city

Brussels

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Clinical Biology Testing Services: Laboratory performs clinical biology analyses for hospital and extrahospital sectors. Billing follows INAMI (Belgian health insurance) regulations with a tiered system combining flat-rate and per-analysis components. The laboratory uses a third-party payment system (Tiers Payant) billing mutuelles directly for reimbursable portions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

LHUB-ULB is a consolidated multi-site university clinical biology laboratory that delivers comprehensive diagnostic testing across medical chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology, and peri-analytical services to partner hospitals (CHU Saint-Pierre, Hôpital Erasme, Institut Jules Bordet, Hôpital des Enfants Reine Fabiola) and the extrahospital sector. The laboratory operates automated high-throughput analyzers, an automated bacteriology chain, flow cytometry, NGS, and a BSL-3 laboratory, performing approximately 18 million analyses annually and hosting 8 National Reference Centers for rare and emerging diseases. Services are delivered through hospital collection centers, 50+ extrahospital collection centers, home blood collection, and the LabOnline digital platform for healthcare professionals.

Product overview

LHUB-ULB is a unified, multi-site university clinical biology laboratory operating within the Ville de Bruxelles/Université libre de Bruxelles hospital network. The laboratory offers a comprehensive portfolio organized around six core analytical services: Chimie Médicale (Medical Chemistry), Hématologie (Hematology), Microbiologie (Microbiology), Immunologie (Immunology), Péri-analytique (Peri-analytical), and Qualité (Quality). These services are delivered across three main activity centers (Anderlecht, Laeken, and Porte de Hal) and supported by a network of over 50 blood collection centers. The laboratory also provides digital services through its LabOnline platform for electronic prescriptions and results, home blood sampling for immobile patients, a biobank for research support, and pathological anatomy services. The lab conducts approximately 18 million analyses annually, operates 8 National Reference Centers, and holds ISO 15189 accreditation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Chimie Médicale (Medical Chemistry) Provides a wide range of classical and specialized biochemical analyses including iron metabolism, therapeutic drug monitoring, hereditary red blood cell disorders, and porphyries. Serves hospital prescribers, GPs, specialists, and outpatients across the LHUB-ULB partner hospital network and extrahospital collection centers.
• Hématologie (Hematology) Provides routine hematological diagnostics and monitoring in onco-hematology, hemostasis disorders (bleeding and thrombophilia), congenital and acquired immunodeficiencies, and HLA testing. Operates XN hematology platforms, CS5100 hemostasis analyzers, and a 12-color flow cytometry platform.
• Microbiologie (Microbiology) Handles laboratory analyses for preventive, diagnostic, and therapeutic care of patients with infectious diseases including bacteriology, mycobacteria, mycology, infectious serology, virology, urgent microbiology, and molecular microbiology. Operates a centralized automated bacteriology chain and a BSL-3 laboratory for highly contagious emerging diseases.
• Péri-analytique (Peri-analytical) Handles sample reception, sorting, distribution to analytical services, and results transmission with a team of 60 people across activity centers, processing 1.2 million requests and nearly 3 million samples annually.
• Qualité (Quality) Implements a unified Quality System covering all Clinical Biology activities to ensure rigorous application of regulatory, normative, and local requirements, including ISO 15189 (BELAC 650-MED), EFI, and JACIE accreditations.
• Immunologie (Immunology) Comprises three medical sectors: Immunology Laboratory, Immuno-hematology sector, and HLA and Histocompatibility Laboratory (EFI-accredited, Eurotransplant and JACIE accredited).
• LabOnline Secure web application for healthcare professionals to prescribe analyses, consult results, manage patient files, and order collection materials, accessible via computer, tablet, and smartphone.
• Home Blood Sampling (Prise de sang à domicile) Medical personnel visit patients unable to travel to collection centers for blood draws in Brussels and Walloon Brabant, offered free of charge.
• Biobanque (Biobank) Ensures storage and availability of human bodily material for medical research and development of new diagnostic solutions in compliance with Belgian legislation. Connected to BBMRI Belgium and Biothèque Wallonie Bruxelles networks.
• Clinical Studies Support Provides biological support for international Phase I-IV clinical studies conducted within partner hospitals and ULB. LHUB-ULB has participated in over 200 such studies.
• Anatomie pathologique (Pathological Anatomy) Pathological anatomy services provided in collaboration with Centre d'Anatomie Pathologique de l'Hôpital Universitaire de Bruxelles.
• Urine Ketamine Detection Urgent 24h/24 testing for ketamine in urine, performed at LHUB-ULB as part of its toxicology and clinical biology testing menu.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Medi-MarketminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 10 April 2026Partnership announced in April 2026 for opening sample collection centers in Medi-Market parapharmacies, extending LHUB-ULB's extrahospital reach.
• ULB (Université libre de Bruxelles)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCore academic partner for research and teaching, with collaboration on clinical studies and technology innovation through the Technological Innovation Unit.
• VUB (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration for research studies and clinical education.
• UZ BrusselminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on National Reference Center for Legionella spp.
• BBMRI (Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure of Belgium)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerConnected to European research infrastructure for biobanking activities.
• Biothèque Wallonie Bruxelles (BWB)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional biobanking network collaboration for human biological material research.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Eurofins Scientific: Luxembourg-based global testing services group spanning food, pharma, environment, and clinical diagnostics. Comparable in laboratory scale and technology platforms, but operates a much broader portfolio beyond clinical biology.
• Laboratory Corporation of America (Labcorp): US-based clinical and reference laboratory offering routine and esoteric testing, anatomic pathology, and clinical trial services. Comparable in scale and reference lab positioning, though primarily North American footprint.
• Quest Diagnostics: US-based reference and routine clinical laboratory with strong esoteric testing, anatomic pathology, and reference center business. Comparable in service breadth and reference-center scale, though geographically separate.
• Sonic Healthcare: Australia-headquartered global laboratory operator with hospital laboratory management, reference testing, and anatomic pathology services across multiple countries. Comparable multi-site consolidated lab model.

Direct peers

• Cerba HealthCare: French-headquartered reference and specialty clinical laboratory serving hospitals, clinicians, and pharmaceutical sponsors across Europe and beyond. Directly comparable as a multi-specialty reference lab with strong esoteric testing franchise.
• Synlab: Europe's largest clinical laboratory operator, offering routine and specialty clinical biology across hospitals, physicians, and patients. Highly comparable in service mix (chemistry, hematology, microbiology, immunology) and pan-European reference lab positioning.
• Medipath: French specialty laboratory focused on anatomical and pathological anatomy, comparable to LHUB-ULB's pathological anatomy service line and other histology/cytology reference offerings.
• Unilabs: European clinical laboratory network operating across clinical chemistry, immunology, microbiology, and specialty testing. Comparable multi-country hospital-focused lab with similar consolidation model and reference-testing services.

Others

• bioMérieux: French in vitro diagnostics and microbiology solutions provider. Adjacent rather than directly competing, but the technology partner relationship in microbiology makes it a relevant ecosystem comparator for LHUB-ULB's bacteriology and BSL-3 capability.

Regional players

• Bionext: Luxembourg-based clinical laboratory with Belgian operations, offering routine and specialty clinical biology. Comparable clinical lab model in the same Benelux region, though slightly different geographic focus.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC8uWRjM7CCLzkR3ib6J9CSw
• LinkedInbe.linkedin.com/company/lhub-ulb

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles14 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about LHUB-ULB