Swiss Cancer Centre

What Swiss Cancer Centre does

Fondation ISREC (operating as the Swiss Cancer Centre) is a Swiss private foundation of public utility under federal supervision, headquartered in Lausanne. Founded in 1964 by Rodolphe Stadler and Prof. Henri Isliker, the foundation funds and coordinates translational cancer research across Swiss academic institutions. Its core offerings include the TANDEM collaborative funding program (pairing clinicians with basic scientists for 2-3 year grants up to CHF 550,000 per project, with 6-7 groups funded annually), the AGORA cancer research cluster (an 11,500 m2 facility on the CHUV campus inaugurated in 2018 that co-locates approximately 300 scientists and clinicians from CHUV, UNIL, EPFL, LICR, HUG, and UNIGE), MD-PhD fellowships co-run with the Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences, scientific symposium funding, and dedicated research initiatives including FLASH radiotherapy (backed by CHF 25 million in funding in 2021).

The foundation's technology stack is fundamentally scientific rather than commercial: research domains span mutagenesis, genomic repair and instability, immunology, immunotherapy, cell cycle biology, viruses and tumors, oncogenes, cell differentiation, and bioinformatics, with the AGORA facility designed by Behnisch Architekten to encourage interdisciplinary interaction across 5,000 m2 of labs and 2,900 m2 of technological platforms. The foundation restructured in 2008 into two independent entities — ISREC@EPFL (integrated into EPFL's School of Life Sciences) and Fondation ISREC — separating research operations from fundraising and grantmaking.

Revenue is derived entirely from private donations, legacies, and inheritances, with historical institutional support from the Confederation, Canton of Vaud, the Swiss Cancer League, and Loterie Romande. Donor tiers range from CHF 500/year ("Ami·e Donateur·trice") to CHF 10,000/year ("Mécène"), with patrons receiving exclusive events and laboratory visits. The foundation serves academic cancer researchers and clinician-scientist pairs as primary users of its funding programs, and individual philanthropists as its donor base. Geographic scope is explicitly restricted to researchers affiliated with Swiss academic institutions or research laboratories.

Name

Swiss Cancer Centre

Legal name

Fondation ISREC

Website

https://isrec.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1964

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Fondation ISREC (Swiss Cancer Centre) is a Lausanne-based Swiss public-utility foundation that funds translational cancer research, operating the AGORA research cluster (~300 scientists) and the TANDEM clinician-scientist grant program across Swiss academic and hospital partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cancer Research Funding

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)

akta.pro primary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Cancer research funding
• Translational oncology research
• Medical research grants
• Academic research fellowships
• Nonprofit cancer foundation

Headquarters

HQ city

Lausanne

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation receives donations from individuals, corporations, and organizations. Donors can become 'Ami·e·s Donateurs·trices' starting at CHF 500/year or 'Mécènes' starting at CHF 10,000/year with exclusive events and laboratory visits.
2. Legacies and Testamentary Bequests: The foundation receives planned giving through legacies and succession arrangements, allowing supporters to designate the foundation as heir or leave specific amounts in wills.
3. Government and Institutional Support: Historical funding from Confederation, Canton of Vaud, Swiss Cancer League, and Romandie Lottery for construction and operational support.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Fondation ISREC is a Swiss private foundation of public utility that funds and accelerates cancer research. It operates the AGORA cancer research cluster in Lausanne (housing ~300 scientists and clinicians) and runs the TANDEM collaborative funding program that pairs clinicians with basic research scientists to co-lead translational cancer research projects. The foundation also funds MD-PhD fellowships, professorial chairs in oncology, scientific symposia, and specialized research initiatives such as FLASH radiotherapy.

Product overview

The ISREC Foundation operates as a cancer research funding organization, not a traditional product company. Its core offerings consist of: the TANDEM collaborative funding program that bridges clinical and basic research; the AGORA Cancer Research Cluster physical facility housing ~300 scientists; MD-PhD fellowship programs; scientific symposium funding; and specialized research initiatives such as FLASH radiotherapy. The foundation functions as a philanthropy-driven research accelerator that connects Swiss academic institutions (EPFL, UNIL, CHUV, HUG, UNIGE) to fund and advance cancer research projects.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• TANDEM: Translational cancer research funding program supporting collaborations between clinicians and basic scientists
• AGORA
• AGORA - Lumière sur le cancer

Products and services

• TANDEM Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Since 2008, has allocated funds to support translational cancer research projects and scientific/academic training in cancer research
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Swiss Cancer Research Léman (SCRL)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018SCRL is an interdisciplinary center for applied cancer research that brings together competencies of universities, federal institutes of technology (EPFs), hospitals, clinics, and public and private institutions in the Lake Geneva region. AGORA is the flagship facility of this consortium.
• CHUV (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLausanne University Hospital, one of the five university hospitals in Switzerland, partners in the AGORA cancer research cluster and SCRL. Provides clinical research environment and patient access.
• UNIL (Université de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Lausanne, partner in AGORA and SCRL, providing academic research environment and training programs including the Faculty of Biology and Medicine.
• EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, partner in AGORA and SCRL. Since 2008, houses the ISREC@EPFL research institute integrated into the Faculty of Life Sciences. Hosts research in bioengineering, microfluidics, and other advanced technologies.
• Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational cancer research organization with Lausanne Branch located within AGORA. Contributes researchers including Prof. George Coukos and Prof. Mikaël Pittet.
• HUG (Hôpitaux Universitaires de Genève)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGeneva University Hospitals, partner in AGORA and SCRL, providing clinical research capabilities in the Geneva region.
• UNIGE (Université de Genève)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity of Geneva, partner in AGORA and SCRL, contributing research expertise including immunology and biomedical sciences.
• Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics (SIB)supportingTechnology or IntegrationNational bioinformatics infrastructure providing data analysis capabilities for cancer research projects including computational immunology and genomics.
• UICC (Union for International Cancer Control)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal cancer control organization connecting organizations fighting cancer worldwide. ISREC Foundation is a member supporting international collaboration.
• Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational medical sciences academy that co-runs the MD-PhD Fellowships Program in which ISREC participates to support physician-researchers.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Swiss Cancer League (Krebsliga): National Swiss nonprofit funding cancer research, prevention, and patient support. Most directly comparable peer, sharing cancer-specific research funding mission, donor-funded revenue model, and Swiss operating geography with ISREC.
• Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research: International cancer research organisation whose Lausanne Branch is physically located inside the AGORA facility. Comparable as a cancer-focused research funder and operator with shared investigators (e.g., Coukos, Pittet) and complementary funding streams.
• Cancer Research UK: UK's largest cancer-dedicated research charity funding scientists and clinician-researchers across the translational pipeline. Directly comparable mission, donor-revenue model, and grantmaking approach toward cancer researchers.
• Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS): Swiss national medical sciences academy that co-runs the MD-PhD Fellowships programme in which ISREC participates. Comparable as a partner-funder and clinician-scientist pipeline operator operating in the same Swiss academic ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• Institut Curie: France's leading cancer research and treatment centre combining a foundation, hospital, and research institute. Comparable as a multi-purpose cancer-focused entity, larger and more directly involved in clinical care than ISREC.
• Wellcome Trust: UK-based charitable foundation funding biomedical research and translational medicine globally. Comparable peer at a much larger scale, with a similar mission of catalysing biomedical breakthroughs through long-horizon philanthropic funding.
• Swiss National Science Foundation: Switzerland's primary public research funding agency, awarding grants across all academic disciplines including oncology. Directly comparable to ISREC's grantmaking function, but with a much broader mandate and substantially larger annual budget.
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute: Large US biomedical research philanthropy that funds investigator-driven basic and translational science. Comparable as a major research-focused charitable foundation whose scientists publish in top journals, similar to ISREC's output profile.

Others

• EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organization): European organisation funding molecular biology research and recognising scientific talent via membership, fellowships, and courses. Comparable to ISREC as a science-enabling peer institution with overlapping scientific community (multiple AGORA scientists are EMBO members).

Regional players

• German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ): Germany's national cancer research centre, a public/quasi-public counterpart to ISREC operating in a different national system. Comparable as a cancer-research-anchoring institution, but with a larger government-funded mandate and broader in-house research scope.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCllcFur1kmfyCp7XIsuhjVw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/isrec
• Facebookfacebook.com/swiss-institute-for-experimental-cancer-research-isrec-269302546436114

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Swiss Cancer Centre