CENTRE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, CEM SAS

What CENTRE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, CEM SAS does

The Centre of Experimental Medicine, CEM SAS (Centrum experimentálnej medicíny SAV, v. v. i.) is a public research institution based in Bratislava, Slovakia, operating under the Slovak Academy of Sciences. Formed through the 2021 merger of three SAS institutes — the Institute of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology, the Institute for Heart Research, and the Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology — CEM conducts integrated biomedical research combining in silico, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo methodologies. Its research targets the causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of socially significant diseases, with emphasis on cardiovascular, nervous system, metabolic, and mental disorders, as well as prenatal and early postnatal pathologies.

The institution operates both as a research organization and a service provider. Technical infrastructure includes multi-omics platforms covering metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics, and MALDI imaging, alongside proprietary computational assets such as the OPRA algorithm for probabilistic risk assessment and the ONTOX Hub platform. These support work on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) for animal-free chemical risk assessment. Commercial services include toxicological studies, laboratory animal breeding, and professional training courses, and the institution hosts the European Academy for Molecular Hydrogen Research in Biomedicine.

As a state-funded public research institution, CEM's revenue model relies on Slovak Academy of Sciences institutional subsidies, EU research grants (notably Horizon 2020 Grant Agreement No. 963845 for the ONTOX project, 2021-2026), and fee-based service contracts. Customers and partners span academic researchers, pharmaceutical, cosmetic and food industries, and regulatory authorities including the OECD via the ASPIS cluster (ONTOX, PrecisionTox, RISK-HUNT3R).

Name

CENTRE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, CEM SAS

Legal name

Centrum experimentálnej medicíny SAV, v. v. i.

Website

https://cem.sav.sk

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Centre of Experimental Medicine, CEM SAS is a Bratislava-based public research institution under the Slovak Academy of Sciences conducting integrated biomedical research on cardiovascular, neurological, and metabolic disorders, with proprietary computational tools supporting animal-free chemical safety assessment for academic, industry, and regulatory clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bratislava

HQ country

Slovakia

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CEM SAS is an integrated research center conducting experimental medicine studies on causes, mechanisms, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of socially significant diseases, with emphasis on cardiovascular, nervous system, metabolic, and mental disorders. The institution delivers research services including toxicological studies, laboratory animal breeding, professional training courses, and operates multiomics research infrastructure (metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics, MALDI imaging) through its three constituent institutes.

Product overview

CEM SAS operates as an integrated research center composed of three specialized institutes (Institute of Experimental Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute for Heart Research, and Institute of Normal and Pathological Physiology). The center provides research services including toxicological studies, laboratory animal breeding, and professional training courses. Key research infrastructure includes multiomics platforms (metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics, MALDI imaging) and participates in international projects like ONTOX, developing AI-based tools for chemical risk assessment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Toxicological Studies Contract research services conducting toxicological assessments for chemical substances, evaluating their effects on biological systems. Targeted at pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industry stakeholders requiring chemical safety assessment.
• Laboratory Animal Breeding Breeding and provision of laboratory animal strains for research purposes, supporting in vivo experimental studies. Targeted at academic researchers and institutions requiring standardized laboratory animal models.
• Training Courses Professional development and educational training programs for researchers and industry professionals in experimental medicine and toxicology. Targeted at doctoral students, postdoctoral researchers, and industry professionals.
• ONTOX Hub Platform A user-facing platform providing access to tools, models, methods, and resources developed during the ONTOX project for probabilistic risk assessment of chemical substances. Targeted at regulatory authorities, researchers, and industry stakeholders conducting chemical safety evaluation without animal testing.
• Multiomics Research Infrastructure Integrated platform for metabolomics, lipidomics, proteomics, and MALDI imaging research, providing advanced analytical capabilities for biomedical research. Targeted at academic and industry researchers requiring multiomic analysis of biological samples and chemical substances.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability4 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Nine partnerships are on record, tiered core, moderate and minor.

• Vrije Universiteit BrusselcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Coordinator of the ONTOX project (Ontology-driven and artificial intelligence-based repeated dose toxicity testing of chemicals for next-generation risk assessment), funded under EU Horizon 2020 programme. Prof. Mathieu Vinken serves as project coordinator.
• ASPIS Cluster (ONTOX, PrecisionTox, RISK-HUNT3R)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration of three Horizon 2020 projects representing European effort for sustainable and reliable chemical risk assessment without animal testing. CEM leads communication working group.
• OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerPatience Browne, member of ONTOX Scientific Advisory Committee, serves as main administrator at OECD, providing regulatory framework connections.
• Utrecht UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDevon Barnes from Utrecht University received best poster award at ONTOX 4th annual meeting for work on in vitro tests for nephrotoxicity prediction.
• European Society for Toxicology in Vitro (ESTIV)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerONTOX project collaboration with ESTIV for dissemination of animal-free testing methods; ONTOX best poster winner received free entry to ESTIV 2026 congress in Maastricht.
• Slovenská akadémia vied (Slovak Academy of Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerParent institution providing institutional funding and framework for the Centre of Experimental Medicine as a public research institution.
• FCHPT STU (Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology, Slovak University of Technology)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration in multi-omic research symposium with representatives from this institution.
• FMFI UK (Faculty of Mathematics, Physics and Informatics, Comenius University)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration for multi-omic research symposium and scientific exchange.
• Lekárska fakulta UPJŠ v Košiciach (Faculty of Medicine, University of Pavol Jozef Šafárik in Košice)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerAcademic collaboration for multi-omic research symposium participation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Inserm (Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale): France's national public biomedical research institute, funded by the French state and EU programmes. Directly comparable as a public-sector, mission-driven research organization spanning pharmacology, toxicology, cardiovascular and neurological research.
• Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC): German public research center under the Helmholtz Association focused on molecular medicine and disease mechanisms. Comparable as a publicly funded biomedical research institute with integrated multi-omics infrastructure and EU consortium participation.
• Helmholtz Munich (Helmholtz Zentrum München): German research center for environmental health, metabolic and cardiovascular disease within the Helmholtz Association. Comparable in disease-area scope, public funding model, and integrated multi-omics research infrastructure.
• Leiden Academic Centre for Drug Research (LACDR): Leiden University research center focused on drug discovery, pharmacology and toxicology. Comparable in experimental pharmacology, toxicology and translational biomedical research with EU consortium engagement.
• Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences: Czech Academy of Sciences institute conducting physiological and biomedical research with EU programme participation. Closest structural peer — same V4 Central European academy-of-sciences model as CEM SAS.
• EURL ECVAM (European Union Reference Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Testing): EU's reference laboratory embedded in the Joint Research Centre, working on New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) and animal-free chemical safety assessment. Direct peer as CEM co-develops OPRA and ONTOX Hub in the same regulatory space.

Broad incumbents

• Karolinska Institutet: Sweden's public medical university and one of Europe's largest biomedical research institutions. Overlapping cardiovascular, neuroscience and toxicology research, but at materially larger scale and broader portfolio.
• Charles River Laboratories: Global CRO offering preclinical toxicology, safety assessment and laboratory animal services. Directly overlaps CEM's toxicological studies and lab animal breeding services, but at significantly larger commercial scale and with broader client base.

Others

• European Chemicals Agency (ECHA): EU regulatory agency implementing REACH chemical safety legislation. Not a research peer, but a direct downstream user of CEM's ONTOX/NAMs risk assessment outputs and a key partner in EU regulatory translation.
• European Society for Toxicology in Vitro (ESTIV): European scientific association for in vitro toxicology. Already a collaboration partner of CEM through the ONTOX project; comparable professional network for the same NAMs and animal-free testing audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CEMatSAS
• Facebookfacebook.com/profile.php
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/centre-of-experimental-medicine-cem-sas

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about CENTRE OF EXPERIMENTAL MEDICINE, CEM SAS