DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform)

What DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform) does

DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform) is a Dutch non-profit coordination platform founded in October 2019 in Utrecht to improve the quality of care for patients with rare cancers in the Netherlands. It serves as the national expert platform for healthcare professionals (predominantly internist-oncologists at Dutch university medical centers including Radboud UMC, UMCU, Amsterdam UMC, LUMC, MUMC+, and Erasmus MC), researchers in rare cancer oncology, and patient advocates, organized through four working groups covering Science (Wetenschap), Medicines (Geneesmiddelen), Organization of Care (Organisatie van zorg), and Communication, Education, and Symposia (Communicatie, symposia en nascholing).

DRCP's core offerings are events and knowledge resources rather than technology products. The flagship is the annual accredited symposium (DRCP Jaarlijks Symposium), supplemented by continuing medical education (nascholing) delivered through partners such as Medtalks and NFK, an awareness calendar including Sarcoma Awareness Month and the Week van de Zeldzame Kankers, and a small set of practical resources: a public website (drcp.nl), annual reports for 2023 and 2024, a vision document on care organization (Visie Organisatie Zorg v3.0), a national overview of panels and multidisciplinary oncology meetings (MDOs) for rare cancers, and a step-by-step plan for establishing expert panels. The platform is not a technology company — no proprietary software, APIs, or SDKs are developed.

DRCP is funded primarily through grants from foundations including KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society) and Hanarth Fonds, with no commercial revenue model, no pricing structure, and free participation in symposia and working groups. Governance rests on a board chaired by Prof. dr. Carla van Herpen (Radboudumc) with Secretary Dr. Thijs Merkx (IKNL) and Treasurer Dr. Marije Slingerland (LUMC), supported by an Advisory Council chaired by Dr. Filip de Vos (UMCU). The organization operates with approximately 5 employees and is embedded in a dense partnership ecosystem with IKNL, EURACAN, NFK, PZK, NFU, SONCOS, and four European cancer foundations that co-fund the ATTRACT rare cancer research call.

Name

DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform)

Legal name

Dutch Rare Cancer Platform

Website

https://drcp.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

2019

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform) is a Dutch non-profit national expert platform that coordinates healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient advocates across four working groups to improve rare cancer care quality, funded by grants and operating through annual symposia and educational programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Rare Cancer Care Coordination Platform

NAICS

Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Public–Private Partnerships (PPPs) for Global Health (HLAJAOAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Global Health Research, Clinical Trials & Product Development Partnerships (PDPs) (HLAJAOAM)

Keywords

• Rare cancer care coordination
• Healthcare professional network
• Continuing medical education
• Clinical research collaboration
• Patient advocacy platform

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: DRCP receives funding from organizations such as KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society) to support its activities including research initiatives like the ATTRACT call.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

DRCP is a non-profit national coordination and advocacy platform for healthcare professionals, researchers, and patient representatives focused on rare cancers in the Netherlands. Its core deliverables are four working groups (Wetenschap/Science, Geneesmiddelen/Medicines, Organisatie van zorg/Care Organization, Communicatie/nascholing/symposia), an annual accredited symposium, continuing medical education (nascholingen) programs, practical tools for setting up expert panels, and formal advice on expert center recognition criteria.

Product overview

DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform) is a national expert platform for healthcare professionals specializing in rare cancers. It is not a technology product company but rather a collaborative network with four thematic working groups — Wetenschap (Science), Organisatie van Zorg (Care Organization), Geneesmiddelen (Medications), and Communicatie, Nascholing en Symposia (Communication, Education, and Symposia). DRCP's core service offerings include: an annual accredited symposium (DRCP Jaarlijks Symposium) as its flagship event; professional nascholing (continuing education) programs for patients and healthcare providers; the DRCP Website as its primary digital communication and coordination platform; and published resources including annual reports (Jaarverslagen) and a formal vision document on rare cancer care organization (Visie Organisatie Zorg). The organization also produces practical tools such as an overview of national rare cancer panels/MDOs and a step-by-step guide for establishing expert panels.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DRCP Jaarlijks Symposium Annual accredited symposium for healthcare professionals, researchers, and other stakeholders involved in rare cancers to share knowledge, exchange experiences, and gain new insights across care organization, research, and clinical care.
• DRCP Nascholingen (Continuing Education) Continuing medical education (nascholing) programs for patients via NFK and healthcare providers via partnerships such as Medtalks, aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge about rare cancers among target audiences.

Quantifiable outcome

• 12 million euros made available for rare cancer treatment research through ATTRACT call
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 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

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• IKNL (Integraal Kankercentrum Nederland)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 October 2019IKNL is a key strategic partner in DRCP's operations. Thijs Merkx serves as both Chairman of the IKNL Board and DRCP Secretary. IKNL provides operational support through advisors like Ria de Peuter, maintains the expert center registry for rare cancers, and collaborates on quality of care initiatives.
• KWF KankerbestrijdingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKWF is a major funding partner supporting DRCP initiatives including the ATTRACT call (12 million euros for rare cancer treatment research) and other rare cancer research programs. Manfred Marang from KWF participates in the Geneesmiddelen (Medicines) working group.
• EURACAN (European Reference Network for Rare Adult Solid Cancers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEURACAN is the European Reference Network for solid rare tumors in adults, covering 10 domains. DRCP represents Dutch experts from each EURACAN domain, facilitating international collaboration and research coordination for rare cancer patients in the Netherlands.
• NFK (Nederlandse Federatie van Kankerpatientenorganisaties)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNFK provides the patient platform for rare cancers through Manon van Splunter as rare cancer advocate. NFK participates in DRCP working groups including Organisatie van zorg and Communicatie, and facilitates patient representation and involvement in research prioritization.
• PZK (Patiëntenplatform Zeldzame Kankers)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPZK developed the research agenda for rare cancers in 2022 and collaborates with DRCP to develop subsidy applications for scientific research. PZK leads the Week van de Zeldzame Kankers awareness campaign.
• NFU (Nederlandse Federatie van Universitair Medische Centra)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDRCP provides advice to NFU regarding criteria in the expert center designation procedure specifically for rare cancers. Collaboration aims to establish quality standards and recognition processes for rare cancer expertise.
• SONCOS (Stichting Oncologische Coördinatie Sarcomen)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDRCP works to include the definition of rare cancer expert centers in SONCOS standards and proposes active verification of compliance with these standards.
• FC AECC (Spain)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSpanish cancer organization partnering in the ATTRACT (Accelerate Together Rare Cancer Treatment) call, contributing to the 12 million euro joint funding for multinational rare cancer clinical studies.
• Antikankerfonds (Belgium)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian cancer foundation partnering in the ATTRACT call for rare cancer treatment research, contributing to the 12 million euro joint funding pool for international clinical studies.
• Kom op tegen Kanker (Belgium)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBelgian cancer organization partnering in the ATTRACT call, contributing to the 12 million euro joint funding for rare cancer research across European countries.
• Fondation ARC (France)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench cancer foundation partnering in the ATTRACT call, contributing to the 12 million euro joint funding for multinational rare cancer clinical trials.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Orphanet: European reference portal for rare diseases and orphan drugs. Comparable to DRCP as a knowledge and coordination platform serving healthcare professionals and patient communities, though Orphanet operates pan-European and is database/information-centric.
• NORD - National Organization for Rare Disorders: US national rare disease advocacy and coordination organization. Closest international analog to DRCP in terms of role (multi-stakeholder platform), though larger scale, broader scope (all rare diseases), and patient-advocacy-led.
• EURORDIS - European Organisation for Rare Diseases: Europe's largest rare disease patient advocacy and platform organization. Directly comparable to DRCP in coordinating stakeholders across rare disease communities, though broader than cancer alone. Both serve as multi-stakeholder conveners with PPP characteristics.
• European Reference Networks (ERNs): EU-coordinated networks linking healthcare providers across Europe for rare and complex diseases, including EURACAN. Directly comparable to DRCP as a multi-stakeholder coordination mechanism for rare disease expertise, though supranational in scope.
• Rare Cancers Europe: European multi-stakeholder initiative focused specifically on rare cancers. Directly comparable to DRCP in mission and scope (rare cancer stakeholder coordination), though operates at European rather than national level.

Broad incumbents

• NCI (National Cancer Institute): US federal cancer research and coordination agency. Comparable as a national cancer research coordination body, but vastly larger scale, government-funded, and focused on funding/conducting research rather than healthcare-professional platform facilitation.

Others

• IKNL (Integraal Kankercentrum Nederland): Dutch comprehensive cancer center organization. Closely intertwined with DRCP (Thijs Merkx serves on both), IKNL provides data, registries, and quality infrastructure. Comparable in serving as a national oncology coordination backbone, but IKNL's scope covers all cancers and operates with broader institutional mandate.
• KWF Kankerbestrijding (Dutch Cancer Society): Major Dutch cancer research funder and DRCP's core funding partner. Comparable as a national cancer coordination/funding platform, but KWF operates as a much larger charity with direct research funding and public fundraising, not as a healthcare-professional platform.
• NFK (Nederlandse Federatie van Kankerpatiëntenorganisaties): Dutch federation of cancer patient organizations. DRCP's core patient partner. Comparable in coordinating multi-stakeholder cancer advocacy, but NFK is patient-led and represents all cancers, whereas DRCP is professional-led and rare-cancer-specific.

Regional players

• Fondation ARC (France): French cancer research foundation partnering with DRCP in the ATTRACT call. Comparable as a national cancer research funding body, but operates in France and primarily funds research rather than coordinating healthcare professionals.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/drcp-dutch-rare-cancer-platform

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 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 DRCP (Dutch Rare Cancer Platform)