UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre

What UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre does

UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre (legal name: Unidade de Investigação Cardiovascular) is a non-profit, university-affiliated translational cardiovascular research unit founded in 1994 and integrated within the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) in Porto, Portugal. It was created to address a gap in translational cardiovascular research in Portugal and assembles approximately 124 researchers (38 of them PhD holders) from basic science (Physiology) and clinical departments (Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Neurology, and Pediatrics), with many investigators combining research with active clinical practice at Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de São João (CHSJ). The unit positions itself as the major Centre in Portugal devoted to translational cardiovascular disease research and is in the frontline on scientific productivity, training, and innovative therapeutic approaches.

UnIC's core technical asset is the Cardiobank biobank, which collects, processes, and stores biological samples (biopsies, blood, urine and derivatives such as RNA, DNA, proteins) from donors with cardiac, vascular, or metabolic diseases, alongside comprehensive clinical, molecular, and histological characterization. The unit also provides research services to the scientific community, including histological processing, nucleic acid extraction, cell culture of human tissues, plasma assays, proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic analyses, statistical analysis, big-data analysis, and broader research project support. The model relies on a "bench to bedside to bench" translational research approach that integrates laboratory science with clinical application, exemplified by ongoing studies such as the PERIMYR pregnancy cardiac study and the development of an innovative pacemaker therapy for heart failure led by coordinating researcher Adelino Leite-Moreira.

Commercially, UnIC is not a revenue-generating business in the conventional sense. Its operating model is sustained by competitive research grants from Portuguese and EU public sources — including Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal 2020 / Compete 2020, and the European Union — supplemented by private foundation funding (notably a 400 thousand euro award in 2020 from Fundação Bancária la Caixa and FCT for heart failure research) and minor award prizes such as the MSD Health Research honorable mention. Distribution and marketing occur through peer-reviewed publications (with extensive 2018 output across journals like Resuscitation, Artificial Organs, and Basic Research in Cardiology), scientific conferences such as the Congresso Português de Cardiologia, and direct service relationships via the Cardiobank to the research community. Customer relationships are anchored to CHSJ for clinical samples and to FMUP as the host institution, with services and publications reaching the broader scientific, clinical, and (to a limited extent) sports and engineering communities.

Name

UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre

Legal name

Unidade de Investigação Cardiovascular (UnIC)

Website

https://unic.med.up.pt

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UnIC is a non-profit translational cardiovascular research unit within the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto, integrating basic-science and clinical departments across cardiology, surgery, and neurology, and operating the Cardiobank biobank to serve the scientific and clinical research community.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Translational Cardiovascular Research Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071)

akta.pro primary industry

Bioinformatics, Multi-Omics Data Analysis & Interpretation Services (HLAGANAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

General Cardiology (Consultative) (HLAKABAA)

Keywords

• Translational cardiovascular research
• Cardiovascular biobank services
• Heart failure research
• Cardiac imaging research
• Vascular disease research

Headquarters

HQ city

Porto

HQ country

Portugal

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Research Grants and Funding: Funded by public institutions including Fundação Bancária la Caixa, Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), and Portugal 2020/Compete 2020 programs. Received 400 thousand euros specifically for heart failure research.
2. Biobank Services: Provides services to the scientific community including collection, processing and storage of biological samples; histological processing; extraction of nucleic acids; cell culture; plasma assays; proteomic, metabolomic and lipidomic analysis

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

UnIC operates a translational cardiovascular research program that combines basic science (Physiology) with clinical departments (Cardiology, Internal Medicine, Cardio-thoracic and Vascular Surgery, Neurology, Pediatrics) to study heart failure, vascular disease and related conditions. Its main commercialized offering is the Cardiobank biobank and its associated research services — collection, processing and storage of biological samples, histological processing, nucleic acid extraction, cell culture, plasma assays, and proteomic/metabolomic/lipidomic analyses — supplied to the scientific community.

Product overview

UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre is a translational cardiovascular research institution offering research infrastructure and services rather than commercial software products. The primary offerings include the Cardiobank biobank, which provides biological samples (biopsies, blood, urine) with clinical data for cardiovascular and metabolic disease research, and associated research services including histological processing, molecular characterization, cell culture, and various omics analyses. The institution publishes extensive cardiovascular research across cardiac function, heart failure, vascular disease, and related conditions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cardiobank

Quantifiable outcome

• Major Centre in Portugal for translational CV disease research with frontline scientific productivity
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de São João (CHSJ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIntegrated clinical partner where researchers combine research with clinical activity. Provides patient access and clinical data for translational cardiovascular research. Key collaborator for bench-to-bedside research approaches.
• Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHost institution providing infrastructure, academic framework, and integration of multiple departments (Physiology, various clinical departments) within the faculty

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares (CNIC): Spain's flagship national cardiovascular research centre, integrating basic and clinical cardiovascular research with strong publication output and large public funding. Closest direct analog to UnIC's translational model at a national level.
• Montreal Heart Institute (Institut de Cardiologie de Montréal): Canadian academic cardiovascular research hospital with an integrated biobank, clinical trials unit, and basic-clinical translational programs. Comparable to UnIC in combining cardiology clinical care with research infrastructure.
• Imperial College London - National Heart and Lung Institute: UK academic cardiovascular and respiratory research institute with strong basic-clinical integration and significant publication output. Comparable to UnIC's translational research scope and academic positioning.
• University of Toronto - Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research: Canadian academic cardiovascular research centre combining basic science, translational, and clinical heart failure research. Comparable to UnIC's translational heart failure focus.
• Karolinska Institutet - Cardiovascular Research Division: Swedish academic cardiovascular research division with translational programs, biobank-linked cohorts, and EU grant participation. Comparable to UnIC in academic translational cardiovascular focus within a European university.
• Deutsches Herzzentrum München (German Heart Center Munich): German academic cardiovascular centre combining cardiac surgery, cardiology, and research. Comparable to UnIC in offering integrated clinical-research cardiovascular programs in a university-hospital setting.
• Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai - Cardiovascular Research Institute: US academic cardiovascular research institute combining basic science with clinical cardiology at a major hospital. Comparable to UnIC's bench-to-bedside translational model, though at larger scale.

Others

• BBMRI-ERIC (Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure): European biobanking infrastructure network that aggregates national biobanks for cross-border research access. Relevant to UnIC as Cardiobank's natural integration point for European-scale biobanking and consortia.

Broad incumbents

• UK Biobank: Massive population-scale biomedical resource with deep phenotypic, genomic, and imaging data on 500,000+ participants. Comparable to UnIC's Cardiobank in offering research-ready biological samples and clinical data, but at a much larger scale and broader scope.

Regional players

• i3S - Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (University of Porto): Portuguese life sciences research consortium in Porto, including cardiovascular, cancer, and microbiology programs. Comparable as a Porto-based research ecosystem player; partial overlap with UnIC's research areas within the same regional cluster.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unic-cardiovascular

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 UnIC - Cardiovascular R&D Centre