What DATA-CAN: The Health Data Research Hub for Cancer does

DATA-CAN is the UK's Health Data Research Hub for Cancer, a non-profit partnership established in 2019 and hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust. Its core function is making high-quality, curated cancer health data more accessible to researchers, clinicians, NHS managers, life sciences companies, and patient advocates across all four UK nations (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland). The partnership operates as one of nine Health Data Research UK Hubs, funded through UK Research and Innovation's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and coordinated by Health Data Research UK, with six founding partners: UCLPartners, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Queen's University Belfast, Genomics England, University of Leeds and IQVIA. Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement is embedded at all decision-making levels via a dedicated PPIE group.

DATA-CAN's product portfolio comprises three core services and two supporting programmes. The NHS Secure Data Environment, delivered with NHS England, provides approved researchers with secure access to de-identified cancer data within Trusted Research Environments without data download. The Curated EHR Service, anchored by NHS Lothian/Edinburgh Cancer Centre, conducts real-world data and real-world evidence analysis using routine care data covering demographics, diagnosis, pathology, treatment, biomarkers and outcomes. The Health Data Research Innovation Gateway provides a discovery portal for UK health datasets. Supporting services include the DATA-CAN Network connecting clinicians, data scientists, NHS managers, charities and industry partners, and a sixteen-module Patient and Public Educational Programme. Weekly real-time data collection on urgent cancer referrals and chemotherapy attendances from NHS cancer centres has produced policy-grade COVID-19 impact research presented to UK Chief Medical Officers and SAGE.

The business model is not-for-profit with cost-recovery service pricing. Core funding flows through UKRI's Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund. Commissioned analysis services — covering data curation, linkage, and professional services from medical oncologists, analysts, data managers and coders — are charged to public sector, academic and commercial partners on a cost-recovery basis with multi-year contract cadence and quote-based pricing. Customer mix spans NHS England (government anchor), major NHS cancer centres (data providers and service buyers), commercial life sciences organisations including IQVIA and Flatiron Health, academic research groups, and patient advocacy organisations. The legal/operational entity is Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which acts as host and joint data controller; no commercial equity, parent company or venture funding exists.

Name

DATA-CAN: The Health Data Research Hub for Cancer

Legal name

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

Website

https://data-can.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DATA-CAN is a UK-wide, non-profit health data research partnership hosted by Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust that makes curated cancer data accessible to NHS clinicians, academic researchers, life sciences companies and patient advocates via secure data environments, real-world evidence services and the HDR UK Innovation Gateway.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Healthcare Data Analytics

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374), Services-Health Services (8000)

akta.pro primary industry

Real-World Data (RWD) Platforms & Clinical Data Curation (HLACAIAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Healthcare Data Integration, ETL/ELT & Pipeline Orchestration (HLACAIAC), Healthcare Data Quality, Profiling & Observability (HLACAIAE), Consent, Preference & Data Rights Management (incl. HIPAA/GDPR support) (HLACAIAG), Data Access, Sharing & Marketplace Platforms (incl. TEFCA/QHIN enablement) (HLACAIAL)

Keywords

• Health data research
• Cancer data services
• Real-world evidence
• Clinical data analytics
• Secure data environments

Headquarters

HQ city

Leeds

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Data Services (Curation and Linkage): DATA-CAN delivers and charges for data services including data curation and linkage. Services are provided to public sector, academic, or commercial partners on a cost-recovery model.
2. Professional Services: Commissioned analysis services where experienced team of medical oncologists, analysts, data managers and coders provide high quality work based on clinical and research expertise, following a cost-recovery pricing model.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DATA-CAN is a UK-wide partnership that provides cancer data services including secure data access, electronic health record curation, and real-world evidence analysis. It operates the NHS Secure Data Environment for approved researchers and the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway for dataset discovery. Services are delivered to academic, NHS and industry partners on a cost-recovery basis and supported by an embedded patient and public involvement programme.

Product overview

DATA-CAN is a UK-wide health data research hub that provides cancer researchers and health professionals with access to high-quality health data through multiple interconnected services. The core offerings include the NHS Secure Data Environment (providing secure access to de-identified cancer data), the Curated EHR Service (real-world evidence analysis within NHS environments), and the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway (dataset discovery portal). Additional services include patient and public educational programmes and the DATA-CAN Network facilitating collaboration across UK health data stakeholders. Together these services enable researchers to improve cancer care and patient outcomes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• NHS Secure Data Environment
• Curated EHR Service
• Health Data Research Innovation Gateway
• Patient and Public Educational Programmes
• DATA-CAN Network

Quantifiable outcome

• Estimated 7,165-17,910 additional deaths in newly diagnosed cancer patients in England due to COVID-19 impact, based on modeling of 3.8 million electronic health records
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability1 record

Feature4 records

Partnerships

19 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.

• Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost organization for DATA-CAN. Trust Headquarters at St James's University Hospital serves as the main office location. Chris Herbert serves as Director of Operations for Research and Innovation at LTHT.
• UCLPartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of six founding partners of DATA-CAN consortium. Academic health science partnership based in London.
• Queen's University BelfastcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of six founding partners. Professor Mark Lawler serves as Scientific Director of DATA-CAN and is Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor at QUB.
• Genomics EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of six founding partners, bringing expertise in genomic data and the 100,000 Genomes Project.
• University of LeedscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of six founding partners. Professor Geoff Hall serves as Hub Director and is Professor of Digital Health at University of Leeds.
• IQVIAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of six founding partners. Health technology company providing the Cancer Data Network (CDN) for clinical trial matching, benchmarking, and research services. Conducted patient workshops with DATA-CAN PPIE group.
• NHS EnglandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for NHS Secure Data Environment providing cancer data access to approved researchers. Phase 1 includes HES and COVID-19 data; Phase 2 adds national cancer datasets.
• Flatiron HealthsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerHealthcare technology company focused on cancer research. DATA-CAN facilitated patient panel to explore patient, clinician, and commercial value. Flatiron adopted recommendations including launching their own PPIE Group.
• Health Data Research UK (HDR UK)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoordinating body for DATA-CAN as one of nine Health Data Research Hubs. DATA-CAN works within HDR UK governance frameworks and uses the Health Data Research Innovation Gateway.
• Edinburgh Cancer Informatics / NHS LothiancoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMain data partner of DATA-CAN. Professor Peter Hall serves as clinical lead. Provides curated electronic health records through Edinburgh Cancer Centre.
• Swansea University / SAIL DatabanksecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerAshley Akbari serves as Senior Research Manager and Data Scientist. SAIL (Secure Anonymised Information Linkage) Databank provides administrative data research capabilities.
• Guy's & St Thomas' NHS Foundation TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of DATA-CAN's most active data centres, providing cancer data for the network.
• University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of DATA-CAN's most active data centres, providing cancer data for the network.
• The Royal Marsden NHS TrustsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of DATA-CAN's most active data centres, providing cancer data for the network.
• Understanding Patient DatasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership providing patient data animations used in DATA-CAN's educational programmes.
• use MY datasecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPatient data advocacy group whose principles DATA-CAN operates by. Members participate in DATA-CAN PPIE Group and workshops.
• National Cancer Research Institute (NCRI)secondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated on joint survey about patient data and experiences of data-learning with DATA-CAN, HDRUK, and use MY data.
• University of Exeter Medical SchoolsecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerDATA-CAN partner whose researchers identified seven key symptoms for ovarian cancer using GP health data. Research won RCGP Paper of the Year 2009.
• University of ExetersecondaryStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner hosting Professor Chrissie Thirlwell (Mireux Gillings Professor of Cancer Genomics) and Dr Sarah Bailey (Senior Research Fellow).

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• PIONEER: One of the nine Health Data Research UK Hubs, focused on acute care data. Directly comparable as a peer HDR UK Hub operating under the same funding model, governance framework, and Innovation Gateway infrastructure as DATA-CAN.
• COTA Healthcare: US-based oncology real-world data and analytics company focused on improving cancer care through curated EHR-derived datasets. Comparable to DATA-CAN's Curated EHR Service in scope and oncology-specific real-world evidence focus.
• BHF Data Science Centre: British Heart Foundation-funded centre operating within the HDR UK framework to enable cardiovascular data research. Comparable to DATA-CAN as a disease-focused data research entity leveraging UK-wide NHS data infrastructure and Innovation Gateway.
• Flatiron Health: US-based oncology real-world data company acquired by Roche. Direct peer to DATA-CAN in cancer real-world evidence generation, with which DATA-CAN has a documented patient and industry partnership exploring UK cancer data value.
• Discover-NOW: HDR UK Hub for Real World Evidence operating in Northwest London. Comparable to DATA-CAN as a peer hub providing real-world data services to industry and NHS, sharing the same HDR UK coordination, funding, and TRE-based access model.
• SAIL Databank: Secure Anonymised Information Linkage Databank at Swansea University providing population-level health data linkage in Wales. Direct peer to DATA-CAN as a UK TRE for health data research and a documented DATA-CAN partner organization.
• Gut Reaction: HDR UK Hub for Inflammatory Bowel Disease, operating under identical HDR UK governance, funding, and data access frameworks as DATA-CAN. Comparable as a disease-specific health data research hub in the same national program.
• INSIGHT: HDR UK Hub focused on eye health data, with similar patient-level EHR access, real-world data services, and NHS-aligned governance. Direct structural peer within the same HDR UK Hub program.

Broad incumbents

• Tempus Labs: AI-driven precision medicine company combining clinical and molecular data for oncology research. Comparable to DATA-CAN in cancer data-driven research enablement, though at significantly larger commercial scale and with broader multi-omics capabilities.
• IQVIA: Global commercial real-world evidence and clinical data company; founding partner of DATA-CAN. Operates in overlapping oncology RWD and clinical trial matching space (Cancer Data Network) but at significantly larger commercial scale and global reach.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/data.can.uk
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/data-can-the-health-data-research-hub-for-cancer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about DATA-CAN: The Health Data Research Hub for Cancer