What Ecraid does

Ecraid Foundation (European Clinical Research Alliance on Infectious Diseases) is a not-for-profit foundation headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands, established 15 February 2022 following €30 million of EU Horizon 2020 funding via the ECRAID-Base project. It operates Europe's largest academia-driven 'warm-base' clinical research network for infectious diseases, providing a single point of access for sponsors and investigators to more than 1,250 clinical sites across 42 countries, over 1,000 laboratories across 75 countries, and more than 250 primary care sites. The organisation has enrolled over 52,000 patients across 48 studies since inception.

The foundation's core technology stack centres on adaptive platform trial (APT) designs and perpetual observational studies (POS) that produce a continuously active research backbone capable of embedding add-on studies rapidly during outbreaks. Five POS run simultaneously (POS-VAP, POS-cUTI, POS-ARI-ER, POS-ARI-PC, POS-Disease X), each addressing a high-burden infectious disease syndrome, and these mature into adaptive platform trials such as ECRAID-Prime (COVID-19/like-illness therapeutics in primary care), REMAP-CAP Europe (community-acquired pneumonia), and SNAP (Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections). A four-mode outbreak response system (Mode 0-3) enables expert review within 24-72 hours of a trigger, and Ecraid has developed a VAP Risk Score using machine learning on POS-VAP data.

Ecraid's revenue model is multi-stream: primary funding comes from EU research grants (Horizon 2020 ECRAID-Base and Horizon Europe ECRAID-Prime), supplemented by industry service contracts with pharmaceutical and medical technology sponsors (e.g., MSD, IQVIA), government and public health contracts with national health authorities and international organisations, and academic research collaborations coordinated through partner institutions (UMC Utrecht, University of Oxford, University of Antwerp, Erasmus MC, ECRIN). Pricing is not publicly disclosed; services are negotiated per-study. Customer segments span four pillars: Society and Patients, Research & Healthcare, Industry, and Government. The current CEO is Lennie Derde (appointed late 2025), with Nils Visser as COO and Evelina Tacconelli as CSO.

Name

Ecraid

Legal name

Ecraid Foundation

Website

https://ecraid.eu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Ecraid is a not-for-profit foundation operating Europe's largest 'warm-base' clinical research network for infectious diseases, providing pharma sponsors, governments, and academia single-point access to 1,250+ clinical sites across 42 countries plus 1,000+ laboratories across 75, running adaptive platform trials and perpetual observational studies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Clinical Research Services

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Clinical Trial Sample Collection & Site Phlebotomy Services (HLAGACAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Regulatory Submissions & Clinical Content Management (eCTD/Publishing) (HLACAOAN), National Public Health Reference Laboratories (HLAJAIAA)

Keywords

• Clinical research services
• Infectious disease trials
• Adaptive platform trials
• Hospital research network
• Microbiology laboratory network

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, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. EU Research Grants: Primary funding from EU Horizon 2020 (ECRAID-Base, Grant Agreement No. 965313) and Horizon Europe (ECRAID-Prime, Grant Agreement No. 101046109). EU investment of €30 million through ECRAID-Base in 2021 transformed Ecraid from an idea into a self-sustaining foundation. Additional EU investment through BE READY NOW partnership.
2. Industry Service Contracts: Pharmaceutical companies and medical technology companies, from small start-ups to large multinationals, contract Ecraid to perform clinical research studies in support of product pipeline development. Companies gain 'on-demand', direct, single-point-of-access to a large, international high-quality clinical network.
3. Government and Public Health Contracts: Governmental organisations (international organisations, national health authorities) contract Ecraid for fast and efficient access to rigorous evidence and data supporting public health measures and policies. These organisations also serve as partners in study design, funders, and users of clinical evidence.
4. Research Services for Academic Institutions: Academic researchers benefit from Ecraid's network for access to scientifically relevant large, multinational studies. Ecraid serves as a coordinating centre for academic clinical trials (e.g., SNAP study coordinated by UMC Utrecht and Ecraid).

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Ecraid is a not-for-profit foundation that operates Europe's largest pan-European 'warm-base' clinical research network for infectious diseases. It provides on-demand, single-point-of-access to over 1,250 hospital clinical sites across 42 European countries (CLIN-Net) and more than 1,000 microbiology laboratories across 75 countries (LAB-Net). Ecraid delivers clinical research services (Phase I–IV), adaptive platform trials, perpetual observational studies, laboratory and biobanking services, and rapid outbreak response capabilities to industry sponsors, government agencies, and academic researchers.

Product overview

Ecraid is a not-for-profit foundation offering a unified portfolio of clinical research infrastructure, services, and platform trials for infectious diseases. The core offering consists of two interconnected networks: CLIN-Net (hospital network with 1,250+ clinical sites) and LAB-Net (laboratory network with 1,000+ labs). These are supported by EU-funded infrastructure projects including ECRAID-Base (warm-base network establishment) and ECRAID-Prime (adaptive platform trial for primary care). Ecraid conducts five Perpetual Observational Studies (POS): POS-VAP, POS-cUTI, POS-ARI-ER, POS-ARI-PC, and POS-Disease X, which mature into adaptive platform trials. Key platform trials include REMAP-CAP (European arm), SNAP, and STRIDE-CAP. Services include clinical research (Phase I-IV), laboratory/biobanking, epidemiological and statistical analysis, data management, training, public engagement, and a four-mode rapid outbreak response system. Educational resources include white papers on adaptive platform trial design and warm-base networks, training modules, and the Better Methods postgraduate course.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CLIN-Net Hospital clinical network providing access to over 1,250 clinical sites across 42 European countries, including hospital wards, emergency rooms, and ICUs. Enables industry, government, and academic sponsors to run multi-country infectious disease trials with a single point of access, site feasibility assessments, and harmonised procedures.
• LAB-Net Specialised infectious disease and clinical microbiology laboratory network with over 1,000 routine microbiology laboratories and 16 specialised research laboratories across 75 countries. Provides study protocol management, sample collection and shipping, biobanking, and analysis for clinical research studies.
• Clinical Research Services End-to-end clinical study delivery across Phase I–IV for infectious diseases, covering observational and interventional research, prevention, treatment, diagnostic, screening, epidemiological, quality of life, and health economics studies. Available to pharmaceutical, medical technology, government, and academic clients.
• Laboratory Research and Biobanking Services Laboratory research, epidemiological research, statistical analysis, data management, biobanking, training, and public engagement services supporting clinical research studies across the Ecraid network.
• Rapid Response Research Services Four-mode outbreak monitoring and response system (Mode 0 inter-epidemic, Mode 1 limited threat, Mode 2 potential threat, Mode 3 immediate threat) enabling rapid activation of clinical research during infectious disease outbreaks.
• Education and Training Programs Training and educational programs including GCP courses, a six-module series on adaptive clinical trial designs, a Data and Sample Governance course with ESCMID, and the 'Better Methods' postgraduate course for infectious disease clinical research.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 52,000 patients enrolled across 48 studies within CLIN-Net
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature6 records

Partnerships

22 partnerships are on record, tiered core and foundational.

• NOFLU ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 February 2026Ecraid is a member of the NOFLU consortium awarded up to EUR 148 million by HaDEA (European Health and Digital Executive Agency) for advancing a novel mRNA mucosal vaccine against pandemic influenza. The consortium comprises seven European organisations: Ethris and Evonik (Germany), NIVI Development, Statens Serum Institut, and Bavarian Nordic (Denmark), ECRAID (Netherlands), and VisMederi (Italy). Phase 1 trials to be conducted at Gentofte Hospital in Copenhagen. ECRAID's role includes contributing its warm-base clinical research network infrastructure and expertise to the 98-month development programme.
• University Medical Center Utrecht (UMCU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUMCU is a key academic partner in ECRAID-Base and ECRAID-Prime projects. Professor Marc Bonten leads WP1 (Project Management and Network Coordination) in ECRAID-Base. UMCU coordinates WP2 (ECRAID-Prime Study), WP5 (Training), WP7 (Ethics), WP9 (Data), and WP13 (Ethics Requirements). Lennie Derde, CEO of Ecraid, is also an intensivist at UMCU. UMCU and Ecraid serve as coordinating study centres for Europe in the SNAP study.
• University of OxfordcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Oxford is a key consortium partner in ECRAID-Prime, leading on trial design and execution. Professor Chris Butler serves as Principal Investigator for ECRAID-Prime. The Primary Care Clinical Trials Unit at Oxford implemented remote participant recruitment for the NONS trial. Oxford also leads WP6 (POS-ARI-PC) and contributes to REMAP-CAP Europe.
• University of AntwerpcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Antwerp coordinates LAB-Net, the laboratory network within Ecraid. Professor Surbhi Malhotra-Kumar leads LAB-Net. The Laboratory of Medical Microbiology (LMM) at UAntwerp serves as the centralised coordination hub for all LAB-Net activities including biobanking, sample management, and quality control across 75 countries.
• European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network (ECRIN)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECRIN is a key consortium partner in ECRAID-Prime, leading on data management (WP4) alongside UMCU, and on coordination of European adaptive platform trials (WP8). Jacques Demotes from ECRIN co-leads relevant work packages.
• Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIPH leads WP8 (Coordination of the European COVID-19 Adaptive Platform Trials) in ECRAID-Prime, ensuring optimal coordination of trials in the EU and other countries. Victoria C. Simensen leads this work package.
• BE READY NOW (European Partnership for Pandemic Preparedness)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBE READY NOW brings together 81 organisations from 27 countries including public funding agencies, public health institutes, clinical networks, ministries, and research infrastructures. Ecraid drives critical efforts in Work Package 12 (ever-warm network of networks) and Work Package 17 (FAIR pandemic data ecosystem). The partnership was officially launched on 1 January 2026, with the launch ceremony in Paris on 17 February 2026.
• COMBACTEfoundationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerCOMBACTE was a predecessor EU-funded project (along with PREPARE) that built the foundational infrastructure for what became Ecraid's warm-base network. Its work on clinical research for antimicrobial resistance informed ECRAID-Base's network development.
• PREPAREfoundationalStrategic or Co-development PartnerPREPARE was a predecessor EU-funded project that built the foundational infrastructure for what became Ecraid's warm-base network and outbreak response mechanisms. Its work informed ECRAID-Base's approach to inter-epidemic research and rapid response.
• REMAP-CAPcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerREMAP-CAP (Randomised, Embedded, Multifactorial, Adaptive Platform trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia) is a groundbreaking global trial embedded in clinical care. ECRAID-Base is the home of REMAP-CAP's European arm, coordinated by Lennie Derde. The trial allows multiple therapies to be evaluated simultaneously during outbreaks and pandemics.
• ECRAID-Base Consortium (19 partner organisations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe ECRAID-Base consortium consists of 19 partner organisations based in nine countries: Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. Led by UMCU's Marc Bonten, the consortium delivers the initial set of activities for Ecraid as a self-sustainable foundation.
• Doherty Institute (Australia)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Doherty Institute (Melbourne, Australia) is the initiating institution for the SNAP (Staphylococcus aureus Network Adaptive Platform) study, the largest clinical trial comparing antibiotics for S. aureus bloodstream infections. The study enrolled 1,341 patients across eight countries.
• Aotearoa Clinical Trials (New Zealand)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the international SNAP study for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections. Part of a global consortium including 130+ hospitals in 12 countries.
• Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC, Canada)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the international SNAP study for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections, contributing Canadian research infrastructure to the global platform trial.
• Clinical HIV Research Unit (CHRU, South Africa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the international SNAP study, contributing South African clinical research infrastructure to the global platform trial for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.
• University College London (UK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the international SNAP study, contributing UK clinical research infrastructure to the global platform trial for Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infections.
• European Medicines Agency (EMA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe European Medicines Agency participates as an observer in Ecraid's Scientific Advisory Board (via Marco Cavaleri). EMA engagement ensures regulatory alignment for Ecraid's clinical trials and adaptive platform studies.
• Erasmus Medical Center RotterdamcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerErasmus MC leads the POS-Disease X study (WP5 in ECRAID-Base) and contributed to monkeypox research through the POS-Disease X team. Professor Marion Koopmans (Head of Department of Viroscience) leads preparedness efforts. The Erasmus MC Viroscience department, Transplant Institute, and Travel Clinic collaborated on POS-Disease X first patient inclusion.
• IQVIAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal CRO for the STRIDE-CAP Full Study, an international multi-centre observational study evaluating the effectiveness of the adult-specific pneumococcal conjugate vaccine V116 (CAPVAXIVE™). Ecraid serves as clinical management for Europe across 70 sites in 4 countries (Austria, France, Italy, Spain).
• European Partnership for Pandemic PreparednesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint Access Advisory Mechanism (JAAM) provides a gateway to COVID-19 adaptive platform trials in Europe. ECRAID-Prime participates in JAAM and the Trial Coordination Board (TCB) enabling dialogue between platform trials.
• ESCMID (European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerECSMID collaborates with Ecraid on training (WP11 in ECRAID-Base) and jointly developed the Data and Sample Governance for Biomedical Research Data course. Simone Brüderli leads WP11 Training from ESCMID.
• ERS (European Respiratory Society)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerERS collaborates with Ecraid on the six-module training series on adaptive clinical trial designs. The training modules are hosted on the ERS channel with myERS account access. ESCMID, ERS, and Ecraid jointly deliver training under ECRAID-Base WP11.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Regional players

• ANRS-MIE (Agence Nationale de Recherche sur le Sida - Maladies Infectieuses Émergentes): French state-funded infectious-disease clinical research network covering HIV, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis and emerging infections. Structurally comparable to Ecraid as an academia-driven national network running sponsor-funded trials, but operating almost exclusively in France.

Broad incumbents

• IQVIA: Global CRO with deep infectious disease and real-world evidence capabilities. Serves as Ecraid's global CRO partner on the MSD-sponsored STRIDE-CAP study, illustrating how incumbent CROs and Ecraid's academia-driven network can co-deliver; IQVIA competes with Ecraid for industry-sponsored trial contracts at the European site-management layer.
• Parexel International: Global CRO with dedicated infectious disease and vaccine clinical operations. Competes for European site-management and patient-recruitment work Ecraid delivers; comparable in serving the same pharma sponsor base for late-stage infectious disease trials.
• ICON plc: Global CRO with significant infectious-disease and vaccine trial franchise post-PRA Health Sciences acquisition. Competes for the same pharma-sponsored multi-country trials Ecraid targets via CLIN-Net, but lacks a permanent 'warm-base' site network with perpetual observational backbones.
• Labcorp (Fortrea spin-off): Major clinical laboratory services provider with global central lab capabilities used in infectious-disease and vaccine trials. Overlaps with Ecraid's routine microbiology and specialised research laboratory offerings within LAB-Net.
• Charles River Laboratories: Provides preclinical and clinical laboratory services plus discovery and safety assessment. Comparable to Ecraid's LAB-Net laboratory research and biobanking offering, and an established alternative for sponsors sourcing microbiology lab services for clinical studies.
• PPD (Thermo Fisher Scientific Clinical Research): Global CRO acquired by Thermo Fisher Scientific, with strong infectious disease and vaccine trial operations. One of the largest competing providers of multinational infectious-disease trial site management services.

Emerging players

• European Vaccine Initiative (EVI): Non-profit supporting vaccine R&D against diseases of poverty and emerging infectious-disease threats through pan-European partnerships. Comparable to Ecraid in its EU-grant-funded model and infectious-disease focus, but concentrates on earlier-stage vaccine development rather than clinical trial execution.

Direct peers

• ACTG (AIDS Clinical Trials Group): NIAID-funded global clinical trials network dedicated to HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases, operating with academic coordinating centres and a multi-country site network. The closest functional analogue outside Europe to Ecraid's specialised, infectious-disease-only clinical research network model.
• ECRIN (European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network): Pan-European non-profit clinical research infrastructure network covering multiple disease areas. Co-leads ECRAID-Prime work packages with Ecraid on adaptive platform trials and data management; the most directly comparable European clinical-research-network operating model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat7 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

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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 Ecraid