What Institute of Analytical Sciences does

The Institut des Sciences Analytiques (ISA) is a French public research institute (Unité Mixte de Recherche UMR5280) jointly operated by CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL), established in 2015 and headquartered at 5 rue de la Doua, 69100 Villeurbanne, France. ISA conducts fundamental and applied research in analytical sciences, with specialization in mass spectrometry, chromatography, spectroscopy, and hyphenated analytical techniques for the analysis of complex samples including biomolecules, environmental pollutants, polymers, and industrial materials. The institute is led by Director Emmanuelle Vulliet and organized around three research axes: MDMC (Multi-dimensions for Complex Mixtures), SMART (Surface and Miniaturization for Analytical Research and Technology), and ATHEXIM (Theoretical and Experimental Approaches of Molecular Interactions), supported by six shared resource platforms — ATGC, CHEMOD, MULTIMOD, PMM, RMN, and Vibrational Spectroscopy — and approximately 10+ specialized research teams.

ISA's technology stack includes several distinctive instruments, most notably the world-first LC×SFC (liquid chromatography × supercritical fluid chromatography) coupling published in Analytical Chemistry in 2024 and co-developed with Total Energies, a timsTOF fleX MALDI-2 mass spectrometer unique in France with spatial resolution down to 5 µm, an Iso Orbitrap Exploris 240 among the first deployed in France for isotopic analysis, and the TimsMetabo Bruker high-resolution mass spectrometer integrating ion mobility with PASEF technology for metabolomics. Major recent capital investments include the €1.7 million Maldi²-HiPlex mass spectrometer inaugurated in March 2024 for the IHU EVEREST hepatology program, which itself carries €20 million in France 2030 funding. ISA also hosts the ArchiFun European Doctoral Programme (Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, 12 doctoral fellows, 36-month cycle starting October 2024), and hosts two start-ups (M&WINE, WEEZION) plus hosted academic teams.

ISA does not operate commercial pricing models. As a government research entity, its revenue mechanics consist of public research grants, institutional funding from CNRS and UCBL, regional government support (e.g., Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Region for the timsTOF fleX), and collaborative research agreements with industrial and academic partners such as Total Energies One Tech, Hospices Civils de Lyon, Inserm, Centre Léon Bérard, Bruker, Sciex, and Waters. Customer-facing activity is channeled through scientific seminars, conferences, publications, industry symposia hosted by technology vendors, and the Fête de la Science public outreach — not through direct commercial sales.

Name

Institute of Analytical Sciences

Legal name

Institut des Sciences Analytiques (ISA)

Website

https://isa-lyon.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Institut des Sciences Analytiques (ISA) is a French public research institute (UMR5280, CNRS/UCBL) in Villeurbanne that develops mass spectrometry, chromatography, and spectroscopy methods for complex-sample analysis, serving academic researchers, industrial partners, and clinical programs including IHU EVEREST.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Analytical Sciences Research

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (54169), Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Testing Laboratories (8734)

akta.pro primary industry

Mass Spectrometry & Spectroscopy Instruments (HLAGAIAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Proteomics & Mass Spectrometry Services (HLAGANAB), Clinical Research & Trial Central Laboratories (HLAFAMAL), Engineering & Technology Institutes (Comprehensive) (EDAHAEAA)

Keywords

• Analytical chemistry research
• Mass spectrometry services
• Chromatography analysis
• Spectroscopy research
• Analytical sciences institute

Headquarters

HQ city

Villeurbanne

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations, Others

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Institute of Analytical Sciences (ISA, UMR5280) is a French public research institute that conducts fundamental and applied research in analytical sciences, with core expertise in mass spectrometry, chromatography, and spectroscopy. It supports academic, governmental, and industrial partners by delivering advanced analytical measurements, method development, and doctoral training within the framework of a joint research unit supervised by CNRS and Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1.

Product overview

The Institute of Analytical Sciences (ISA) is a French research institute (UMR5280, CNRS/Université Lyon 1) offering a comprehensive portfolio of analytical science platforms and research services. The core offering includes multiple technical platforms: the Spatial Multi-Omics Platform for LC-ESI-HRMS and MALDI-MS imaging; the NMR Spectroscopy Platform with 400 and 600 MHz spectrometers; Vibrational Spectroscopy Platform; MULTIMOD for chromatography-mass spectrometry couplings; CHEMOD for chemometrics and modeling; ATGC for thermal/gas/VOC analysis; and PMM for prototyping and metrology. These platforms support three main research axes: MDMC (Multi-dimensional approaches for complex samples), SMART (Surface and miniaturization), and ATHEXIM (Molecular interactions with theoretical chemistry and AI). ISA also hosts the IHU EVEREST hepatology research platform and the ArchiFun European Doctoral Programme. Major equipment includes Bruker timsTOF fleX MALDI-2, TimsMetabo, Iso Orbitrap Exploris 240, and various NMR spectrometers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Spatial Multi-Omics Platform: State-of-the-art analytical facility dedicated to multi-scale analysis of clinical and biological samples using LC-ESI-HRMS coupling and MALDI-MS imaging, part of IHU EVEREST

Quantifiable outcome

• Louise Durand won Best Oral Presentation at ExTech 2026 for environmental impact reduction research
• +4 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and secondary.

• WatersmajorTechnology or Integration · 28 November 2024Organizes technology showcases at ISA including HPLC Alliance iSystem demonstrations and MS innovations for trace detection and characterization.
• SciexmajorTechnology or Integration · 10 October 2024Organizes Omics-focused seminars at ISA showcasing ZenoTOF 7600 system applications in lipidomics, metabolomics, and proteomics for francophone laboratories.
• Total Energies One TechmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration with Julien Crepier from Total Energies One Tech on the world-first LCxSFC coupling development published in Analytical Chemistry 2024, focusing on industrial polymer characterization applications.
• IHU EVEREST (Hepatology Institute of Lyon)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2023ISA hosts the Spatial Multi-Omics platform as part of IHU EVEREST, a University Hospital Institute dedicated to liver diseases funded at €20 million. The partnership combines fundamental, translational, and clinical research with ISA's analytical capabilities including LC-ESI-HRMS coupling and MALDI-MS imaging for multi-scale analysis of clinical and biological samples.
• CNRScoreOthersCNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) is the primary parent organization and co-publisher of ISA as UMR5280. Provides core funding, administrative framework, and institutional support.
• Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1 (UCBL)coreOthersUCBL is the co-publisher of ISA and provides significant institutional support, personnel, and research infrastructure as part of the joint research unit arrangement.
• Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical partner in IHU EVEREST consortium contributing medical expertise and clinical samples for hepatology research using ISA's analytical platforms.
• InsermcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partner in IHU EVEREST contributing biomedical research expertise to collaborative hepatology projects.
• Centre Léon Bérard (CLB)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCancer research center participating in IHU EVEREST consortium for oncology-related analytical research.
• BrukermajorTechnology or IntegrationEquipment supplier and scientific symposium organizer. Provides timsTOF fleX MALDI-2 mass spectrometer and other analytical equipment. Hosts user symposiums at ISA for applications showcase.
• CHEMOD Platform PartnerscoreTechnology or IntegrationYohann Clément leads the CHEMOD chemometrics platform as a key analytical resource for data processing and modeling supporting all IHU research activities.
• Institut de Chimie de Lyon (ICL)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerChemistry institute consortium organizing annual scientific days and fostering collaboration between Lyon chemistry laboratories.
• AxelerasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompetitiveness cluster for organic chemistry, analytical sciences, and environment in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, co-organizing scientific events and industry-academia meetings.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• SCIEX: Provider of mass spectrometry and LC-MS/MS systems (including ZenoTOF 7600 referenced in ISA's omics seminars). Directly comparable through overlapping focus on lipidomics, metabolomics, and proteomics workflows, and as a co-organizer of ISA-hosted application showcases.
• Waters Corporation: Major chromatography and mass spectrometry vendor (HPLC Alliance iSystem and MS innovations showcased at ISA). Comparable through joint focus on trace detection, characterization, and hyphenated LC-MS techniques for complex mixture analysis.
• Bruker Corporation: Global manufacturer of mass spectrometry and analytical instrumentation, including the timsTOF fleX MALDI-2 platform housed at ISA. Directly comparable as the principal equipment vendor whose instruments define ISA's analytical capabilities, and operates parallel ion mobility-MS and MALDI imaging R&D programs.

Broad incumbents

• Agilent Technologies: Major analytical instrument manufacturer with broad GC, LC, and MS product lines, including sponsorship of the HPLC 2023 best poster prize awarded to ISA researchers. Comparable through shared focus on chromatography-mass spectrometry and isotope ratio MS applications.
• Shimadzu Corporation: Japanese analytical instrument manufacturer with broad mass spectrometry, chromatography, and spectroscopy portfolios. Comparable as a global competitor in the same hyphenated analytical techniques space that ISA specializes in.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Global leader in analytical instruments including the Iso Orbitrap Exploris 240 isotopic mass spectrometer deployed at ISA. Comparable as the dominant mass spectrometry vendor whose Orbitrap platform underpins much of ISA's proteomics and metabolomics research.

Emerging players

• Institut Pasteur: Leading French biomedical research institute with extensive proteomics and metabolomics infrastructure. Comparable as a French public research institute applying advanced analytical sciences to biomedical questions, including the infectious disease and clinical research domains where ISA contributes through biosensor and multi-omics work.
• Institut Curie: French cancer research center participating in the IHU EVEREST consortium alongside ISA. Comparable as a peer French research institute combining clinical, translational, and analytical sciences, with overlapping interest in mass spectrometry imaging for oncology applications.
• Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology: German research institute applying analytical chemistry (including mass spectrometry and NMR) to chemical ecology questions. Comparable as a publicly-funded European research institute with overlapping analytical techniques (hyphenated chromatography-MS, NMR, vibrational spectroscopy) and a horizontal research-axis structure.
• European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL): Intergovernmental research organization with strong proteomics and structural biology capabilities. Comparable as a publicly-funded peer research institute operating advanced mass spectrometry and analytical platforms for life sciences research across European member states.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ISA_UMR5280

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries6 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 Institute of Analytical Sciences