Oncogen

What Oncogen does

Oncogen is a non-profit biomedical research and micro-production center headquartered in Timișoara, Romania, operating within the Pius Brînzeu County Emergency Clinical Hospital and registered as Asociația OncoGen (C.U.I. 36177950). The center's research spans three principal domains: cancer (CAR-NK cell therapy, 3D bioprinted tumor models, NGS-based molecular diagnostics), allergies (recombinant allergen panels for personalized immunotherapy), and regenerative medicine (decellularized tissues, mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, nanomedicine). Its technology portfolio includes genetic engineering of Natural Killer cells with chimeric antigen receptors, validated 3D toroidal and triple-layered tumor bioprinting protocols, Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticle investigations, and synthetic long peptide vaccine design (DECODE COVID-19 candidate). The center operates a GMP-certified production unit with two cleanrooms and a BSL2 laboratory, and holds ISO 9001, ISO 13485, and ISO Audit certifications (all 2023), supporting clinical-grade manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products.

The business model is grant-driven rather than commercial. Oncogen does not sell products; it generates operating capacity through competitive research grants from EU programs (Interreg-IPA CBC, Horizon Europe, POC 2014–2020) and Romanian national funding instruments (PN-III, Program SOLUȚII). Documented grants total approximately €20M in aggregate consortium value across seven projects between 2016 and 2027, with €3M directly allocated to Oncogen in the ROSECAN project alone. The center monetizes its research infrastructure through contract research services, GMP manufacturing capacity, and molecular diagnostic services provided to healthcare partners, but the primary "customers" are effectively public funding bodies. Strategic partnerships with the University of Medicine and Pharmacy "Victor Babeș" Timișoara, Institutul Cantacuzino, the University of Salzburg, and Spitalul General Požarevac (Serbia) provide academic, clinical, and cross-border collaboration channels.

The team of approximately 30+ research staff — including professors, scientific researchers, biotechnologists, biochemists, physicians, biologists, pharmacists, and a medical physicist — is led by founder Prof. Dr. Păunescu Virgil. The center distributes outputs through scientific publications in top international journals, conference participation, EU-funded consortium deliverables, and a public website/social media presence. There is no app, no SaaS product, no equity funding, and no disclosed commercial revenue; all growth to date has been achieved through successive grant wins and regulatory certification milestones rather than through market-driven scaling.

Name

Oncogen

Legal name

Asociația OncoGen

Website

https://oncogen.ro

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Oncogen is a non-profit biomedical research and micro-production center in Timișoara, Romania, developing gene and cell therapies, 3D bioprinted tumor models, recombinant allergen diagnostics, and GMP-certified advanced therapy manufacturing, funded primarily through EU and Romanian national research grants.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biomedical Research and Micro-Production Services

NAICS

Biological Product (except Diagnostic) Manufacturing (325414), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413), Medical Laboratories (621511), Pharmaceutical and Medicine Manufacturing (3254)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Biological Products, (No Disgnostic Substances) (2836), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Cell Therapy Developers (Allogeneic/Off-the-shelf) (HLAAABAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cell Therapy Manufacturing Services (GMP, autologous/allogeneic) (HLAAAKAC), Cell Therapy CDMO (Autologous/Allogeneic Manufacturing) (HLAGAGAA), Oncology Specialty Pharmaceuticals (HLAIACAA), Oncology & Hematology Pharmaceuticals (HLAIAAAC)

Keywords

• Gene therapy research
• Cell therapy development
• Cancer immunotherapy
• 3D bioprinting tumors
• Molecular diagnostics

Headquarters

HQ city

Timisoara

HQ country

Romania

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. EU Research Funding: Oncogen operates primarily through EU-funded research projects including Interreg programs, Horizon Europe, and national Romanian funding programs (POC, PN-III). Revenue comes from research grants and project financing rather than commercial product sales.
2. Research Services: GMP manufacturing services and specialized diagnostic services provided to healthcare partners and research institutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

OncoGen is a non-profit research and micro-production center developing advanced gene and cell therapies, immunotherapies, 3D bioprinted tumor models, recombinant allergen diagnostics, peptide vaccines, and nanomedicine for cancer, allergies, and regenerative medicine. It also provides GMP-certified manufacturing services for cell and gene therapy products and NGS-based molecular diagnostics through EU-funded research collaborations.

Product overview

OncoGen is a research and micro-production center focused on advanced gene and cell therapies, nanomedicine, and precision diagnostics. The portfolio includes CAR-NK cell therapy products, peptide-based vaccines (DECODE), recombinant allergen diagnostic kits (INSPIRED), magnetic nanoparticle tools (NANOCEL), GMP manufacturing services with cleanroom facilities, 3D bioprinted tumor models (DeLIMIT), and NGS-based molecular diagnostics (ROSECAN). These offerings span from early research tools to clinical-grade manufacturing capabilities, unified by the center's expertise in immunotherapy, gene therapy, and regenerative medicine.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• CAR-NK Cell Therapy Genetically engineered immunotherapy using Natural Killer cells modified with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) to recognize and target malignant cells, particularly EGFR+ cancer cell lines. Aimed at translational research and clinical-grade cell therapy development for cancer treatment.
• DECODE COVID-19 Peptide Vaccine Prophylactic anti-SARS-CoV-2 peptide vaccine based on synthetic long peptides (SLP) selected through population immunophenotyping, with preclinical validation completed for Phase I/II clinical studies. Designed to activate helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells, and B cells.
• INSPIRED Recombinant Allergen Diagnostic Kit Diagnostic kit based on 9 recombinant allergens for molecular precision diagnosis of ragweed allergy and personalization of immunotherapy, including evaluation of commercial vaccine efficacy. Targeted at allergy specialists and clinical immunology laboratories.
• NANOCEL Fe3O4 Nanoparticle Research Magnetic Fe3O4 nanoparticle investigation for tumor cell and tumor microenvironment effects, identifying novel cell death mechanisms and therapeutic directions for cancer treatment. Aimed at translational oncology and nanomedicine research.
• GMP Manufacturing Services Good Manufacturing Practice production services including a 2 cleanroom facility and BSL2 laboratory for manufacturing cellular and gene therapy products. Provided to research and clinical partners requiring clinical-grade manufacturing capacity.
• DeLIMIT 3D Bioprinted Tumor Models 3D bioprinted tumor models and tumor spheroids (breast and colon cancer) for preclinical oncology research, including toroidal and triple-stratified tumor models with in vivo validation capability. Targeted at preclinical researchers and drug discovery teams.
• ROSECAN NGS Diagnostic Platform

Quantifiable outcome

• 9 recombinant allergens produced and validated for ragweed allergy diagnosis
• +3 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered major and core.

• Universitatea din Salzburg (Austria)majorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2024Coordinator of MOUNTADAPT Horizon Europe project on climate adaptation for mountain communities. Project budget 5.85 million EUR focusing on environmental monitoring, public health response tools, and pilot programs in Romania, Austria, Slovenia, and France.
• Institutul Național de Cercetare-Dezvoltare Medico-Militară CantacuzinocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership in DECODE project for COVID-19 peptide vaccine development. Focus on in vitro/in vivo studies and clinical Phase I/II documentation preparation.
• Spitalul General Požarevac (Serbia)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 July 2017Lead partner in ROSECAN Interreg-IPA CBC Romania-Serbia project focused on regional oncology infrastructure and cross-border medical collaboration. Project budget 12 million EUR with 3 million EUR allocated to Oncogen for advanced molecular diagnostics implementation including NGS technology and medical data exchange platform.
• Spitalul Clinic Județean de Urgență Pius Brînzeu TimișoaracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 September 2016Host institution for Oncogen research center. Partnership in INSPIRED project for recombinant allergen development and CAR-NK cell therapy research. Provides clinical infrastructure and patient access for research translation.
• Universitatea de Medicină și Farmacie Victor Babeș TimișoaracoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 9 January 2016Academic partner in multiple research projects including CAR-NK therapy development, DeLIMIT 3D bioprinting project, and NANOCEL nanomedicine research. Provides scientific expertise and research coordination.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Fate Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing off-the-shelf NK and T-cell therapies derived from iPSCs. Direct peer with similar off-the-shelf cell therapy strategy and cancer immunotherapy focus.
• Cytovia Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing CAR-NK and NK engager therapies for cancer and infectious diseases. Direct competitor in CAR-NK cell therapy space.
• Century Therapeutics: Clinical-stage cell therapy company developing allogeneic, iPSC-derived NK and T-cell therapies for cancer. Comparable in pursuing engineered off-the-shelf cell therapies.
• Nkarta Therapeutics: Clinical-stage biotech developing engineered NK cell therapies including CAR-NK programs targeting cancer. Direct peer as Oncogen's CAR-NK cell therapy addresses the same oncology cell therapy modality.
• Cellectis: Clinical-stage gene-editing company developing allogeneic CAR-T and CAR-NK cell therapies using proprietary TALEN platform. Comparable gene editing and cell therapy approach.

Broad incumbents

• Lonza Group: Global CDMO leader with extensive cell and gene therapy manufacturing services. Comparable GMP manufacturing capability for cell therapies though at vastly larger scale.

Others

• Catalent (Novo Holdings): Major CDMO providing cell therapy manufacturing services including GMP production. Broad incumbent comparable in GMP manufacturing for advanced therapies.

Emerging players

• Shoreline Biosciences: Developer of iPSC-derived allogeneic NK and macrophage cell therapies. Emerging peer in the engineered NK cell therapy space with similar off-the-shelf approach.
• Glycostem Therapeutics: Clinical-stage cell therapy company developing off-the-shelf NK cell therapies (oNKord) for cancer. Emerging peer with direct CAR-NK overlap.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/OncoGenRO
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UC_NTOP1WLpOh75okT7Qnuuw/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/oncogentimisoara
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/oncogen

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Oncogen