CEDAR

What CEDAR does

CEDAR (Centre for Healthcare Evaluation, Device Assessment, and Research) is a Cardiff-based healthcare evaluation and research organization established as a collaboration between NHS Wales — specifically Cardiff and Vale University Health Board as host — and Cardiff University, with its headquarters at Heath Park, Cardiff. It provides a portfolio of professional services including Health Technology Assessment and Evidence Synthesis, Clinical Trial Management, Evaluation, Qualitative Research, Health Economics, Data Analysis and Statistics, and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). Its primary customers are NHS Wales Health Boards, the Welsh Government, academic partners, and a limited set of charities and commercial-sector clients in medical devices and diagnostics. The organization has a team of approximately 29-46 staff including Senior Researchers, Systematic Reviewers, Consultants, and research support roles.

CEDAR's core technology footprint centres on Wales's National PROMs Platform (NPP), a digital system developed by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) for collecting and managing patient-reported outcome measures across NHS Wales. CEDAR performs user acceptance testing on all e-forms included on the platform — over 30 bilingual (English and Welsh) e-forms since 2016 — and tests the scoring algorithms that surface PROMs summaries in the Welsh Clinical Portal. It has built a specialized PROMs translation and validation capability following ISPOR guidelines, leveraging the Iaith mewn Iechyd Welsh-speaking volunteer network for linguistic validation. Demonstrated analytical outputs include large-scale data analysis (79,000+ EQ-5D-5L responses for cataract surgery PROMs and 2,550 CAT-PROM-5 responses), patient-level data dashboards for palliative care, and narrative research on PROMs visualization formats.

CEDAR operates as a publicly funded entity with no commercial pricing model. Revenue mechanics consist of NHS Wales allocations, Welsh Government grants, and internal Welsh Value in Health Centre funding, rather than fee-for-service arrangements. Client engagement is managed through a proposal-based "Work with us" submission process. The organization is also the primary research and evaluation partner for Wales's Value-Based Healthcare programme, participating in the OECD's international PaRIS study and conducting the VIH-AI feasibility study on Machine Learning for Value-Based Healthcare — the latter representing its primary early-stage AI/ML initiative. In 2024, CEDAR's National PREMs refresh won the Public Involvement Award from Health and Care Research Wales.

Name

CEDAR

Legal name

Cardiff and Vale University Health Board

Website

https://cedar.nhs.wales

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

CEDAR is a Cardiff-based healthcare evaluation research centre jointly operated by NHS Wales (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) and Cardiff University, providing health technology assessment, PROMs implementation, clinical research, and health economics services to NHS Wales Health Boards, the Welsh Government, and academic partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Research and Evaluation Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171), Other Scientific and Technical Consulting Services (541690), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (54)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYHLAFAAAA

Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) & Teaching Hospitals

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Healthcare Providers & Systems/Acute Care Hospitals & Health Systems

SECONDARYEDAHABAC

Health & Biomedical Research Universities (Academic Medical Center–Affiliated)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Private Research Universities

SECONDARYEDAHAAAC

Public Research Universities with Academic Medical Centers (AMCs)

Education/Higher Education (Colleges & Universities)/Public Research Universities

Keywords

• Health technology assessment
• Evidence synthesis services
• Patient reported outcomes
• Clinical trial management
• Health economics evaluation

Headquarters

HQ city

Cardiff

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Public Sector Research Funding: CEDAR operates as part of NHS Wales (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) and receives funding through NHS Wales, Welsh Government grants, and internal Welsh Value in Health Centre funding. It is a publicly funded research organization providing evaluation and assessment services rather than a commercial entity.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CEDAR is a publicly funded research and evaluation organisation that delivers evidence synthesis, health technology assessment, clinical trial management, evaluation, qualitative research, health economics, data analysis, and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) services focused on medical devices, diagnostics, and interventional procedures. It operates as a collaboration between NHS (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) and Cardiff University, primarily serving NHS Wales, Welsh Government, academic, charitable, and commercial-sector partners through commissioned research proposals.

Product overview

CEDAR (Centre for Healthcare Evaluation, Device Assessment, and Research) is a collaboration between NHS (Cardiff and Vale University Health Board) and Cardiff University. It operates as a research and evaluation center providing evidence, research, and evaluation services primarily focusing on medical devices, diagnostics, and interventional procedures. CEDAR offers a portfolio of services including Health Technology Assessment and Evidence Synthesis, Clinical Research, Evaluation, Qualitative Research, Data Analysis and Statistics, Health Economics, and Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs). The organization supports the National PROMs Platform (NPP) developed by Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) and contributes to service improvement and redesign initiatives. CEDAR also provides PROMs translation and validation services for Welsh-language healthcare questionnaires.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Health Technology Assessment and Evidence Synthesis Provides evidence synthesis and health technology assessment services for medical devices, diagnostics, and interventional procedures to inform NHS Wales and Welsh Government healthcare decision-making.
• Clinical Research and Clinical Trial Management Clinical trial management services for healthcare research, including studies such as the PROVISION study on PROMs visualisation research, the VIH-AI study on Machine Learning for Value-Based Healthcare, and the PREMIERE Study on PREMs in Vascular Surgery Enhancement.
• Evaluation Services Service evaluation and improvement initiatives for healthcare programmes, including qualitative data gathering, staff and patient interviews, and evidence of improvements in patient care for healthcare providers in Wales.
• Qualitative Research Qualitative research methodologies for healthcare assessment, including interviews, focus groups, and stakeholder engagement to inform healthcare service evaluation and redesign.
• Data Analysis and Statistics Statistical analysis and data interpretation services for healthcare data, including analyses such as the cataract surgery PROMs analysis covering 79,000+ EQ-5D-5L responses and 2,550 CAT-PROM-5 responses.
• Health Economics Economic evaluation services to assess the cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions, supporting decision-making by NHS Wales and Welsh Government.
• Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) Collection and analysis of patient-reported outcome measures across NHS Wales, including advice, licensing, and visualisation services for patient-level data dashboards. PROMs collection has been adopted by all NHS Wales Health Boards for cardiac and orthopaedic conditions.
• PROMs Translation and Validation Services Translation and validation of Patient Reported Outcome Measures questionnaires into Welsh following ISPOR guidelines, including forward translation, reconciliation, back-translation, validation with Welsh speakers via the Iaith mewn Iechyd volunteer group, and validation review stages.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30 e-forms tested on National PROMs Platform in both English and Welsh since 2016
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic, minor and supporting.

• Cardiff and Vale University Health BoardcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary NHS partner and host organization. CEDAR operates as a collaboration under the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, providing healthcare evaluation services integrated with NHS Wales infrastructure.
• Cardiff UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic partner providing research collaboration and academic credibility. The collaboration brings together clinical and academic perspectives on healthcare evaluation, device assessment, and research.
• Welsh GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary government commissioning partner. Welsh Government commissions CEDAR for health technology assessment, evaluation projects, and supports funding for various research initiatives including the National PREMs refresh.
• Welsh Value in Health CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKey strategic partner for Value-Based Healthcare initiatives. CEDAR works alongside the Welsh Value in Health Centre on PROMs implementation, PaRIS survey implementation, and various value in health projects. The Centre provides internal funding for CEDAR projects.
• Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW)coreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology partner for the National PROMs Platform (NPP). CEDAR performs user acceptance testing on e-forms developed by DHCW for NHS Wales' National PROMs Platform, working with DHCW's NPP development team to resolve issues and ensure platform quality.
• NHS Wales Health BoardscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCEDAR works with all NHS Wales Health Boards for PROMs collection across conditions including cardiac and orthopaedic conditions. Spinal Surgery PROMs analysis involves collaboration with clinicians and Health Board information teams.
• Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)strategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerInternational partner for the PaRIS (Patient-Reported Indicator Surveys) project. Wales is one of 19 countries participating in this first international study of patient-reported outcomes in chronic care, led by the Welsh Value in Health Centre with CEDAR support.
• Marie Curie Cardiff and Vale HospiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerClinical partner for palliative care PROMs research. CEDAR performed aggregate analysis on IPOS data from the hospice, working with clinicians on patient-level dashboard visualisations.
• Iaith mewn Iechyd (Welsh-speaking volunteers)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity of Welsh-speaking volunteers who help check and improve Welsh translations of PROMs used across NHS Wales. Part of CEDAR's validation process ensuring translations are clear and understandable for Welsh speakers.
• Welsh Clinical PortalsupportingTechnology or IntegrationNHS Wales clinical information system where PROMs summary scores from the National PROMs Platform are displayed for use by clinicians. CEDAR tests the algorithms that populate these scores.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• University of Sheffield — ScHARR (School of Health and Related Research): UK academic unit conducting HTA, evidence synthesis, health economics, and PROMs research — directly comparable to CEDAR's portfolio of services, but operating within a university rather than an NHS body.
• University of York — Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD): Produces systematic reviews and evidence syntheses underpinning UK HTA decisions. Directly comparable to CEDAR's systematic reviewing and evidence synthesis work, with a parallel academic-institutional model.
• CADTH (Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health): Canada's national HTA agency producing health technology assessments, evidence syntheses, and recommendations. Directly comparable to CEDAR's HTA and evidence synthesis work, with parallel remit to inform public-sector health technology adoption decisions.
• Office of Health Economics (OHE): Independent UK research organisation producing health economics analysis and policy consulting. Directly comparable to CEDAR's health economics and evaluation services, though with broader commercial consulting exposure.

Others

• ICER (Institute for Clinical and Economic Review): US-based independent HTA organisation producing evidence-based reports on clinical effectiveness and value of medical interventions. Directly comparable to CEDAR's HTA work, particularly health economics evaluations of devices and interventions.

Broad incumbents

• IQWiG (Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care): Germany's national HTA body conducting evidence-based evaluations of medical interventions. Comparable to CEDAR's HTA function and PROMs-adjacent methodological work, though operating at national scale within a different health system.
• Zorginstituut Nederland (ZIN): Netherlands national HTA institute assessing effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of healthcare interventions. Parallel to CEDAR's HTA and health economics remit in a different national jurisdiction.
• NIHR (National Institute for Health and Care Research): Funds and supports clinical research across the UK through infrastructure including clinical trials units and evidence synthesis programmes. Comparable to CEDAR in clinical research and evaluation services but at much larger national scale.
• NICE (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence): The UK's principal health technology assessment body, providing evidence-based guidance on drugs, devices, and diagnostics. Directly comparable to CEDAR's HTA and evidence synthesis remit, but operating at a national scale with substantially larger resources across all four UK nations.

Regional players

• Scottish Health Technologies Group (SHTG): Provides HTA advice to NHS Scotland on new technologies, with a remit similar to CEDAR's Welsh HTA work. Highly comparable in scope and delivery model, but operating in a different UK home nation rather than competing directly.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CEDAR_Cardiff
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cedar-centre-for-healthcare-evaluation-device-assessment-and-research

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CEDAR