canadian cancer clinical trials network

What canadian cancer clinical trials network does

Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) is a not-for-profit pan-Canadian organization founded in 2014 and hosted by the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) to coordinate academic cancer clinical trials (ACCTs) across Canada. The network coordinates 51 cancer centres and supports 850+ ACCTs, recruiting 40,000+ patients, contributing to 400+ peer-reviewed publications, and enabling 70+ practice-changing trials. Built originally as a coordination infrastructure for academic investigators, 3CTN has evolved into a national operating system for non-industry cancer trials with standardized ethics, data, and patient engagement practices.

3CTN's core products are coordinated through a hub-and-spoke architecture rather than a commercial SaaS stack. The Canadian Remote Access Framework for clinical Trials (CRAFT) is a decentralized trial delivery model that enables remote consent, telemedicine follow-up, and local drug administration across satellite sites. The EDGE Clinical Trial Management System (CTMS) manages the protocol lifecycle for member sites, while the Canadian Cancer Trial Finders portal provides patient-facing trial discovery and matching. The Patient Partner Learning Hub trains the network's 200+ patient representatives under a documented Jobs-to-be-Features (JTF) competency framework, and operational reporting runs on Microsoft Power Platform with Power BI dashboards. Race-based and EDI data collection has been onboarded at 28 cancer centres to standardize equity data capture inside trial protocols.

The network operates as a public-good infrastructure rather than a commercial business. 3CTN does not charge member sites or patients for access to its services and instead generates operating revenue through government and quasi-government grants. The two largest funding commitments are OICR at $2 million annually over four years and the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) at $1.4 million annually over five years, supplemented by provincial cancer agency contributions and a $600,000 CPAC EDI grant awarded in March 2025. FY2024-25 reported total revenue was $5,728,215.63 CAD. Leadership consists of Executive Director Stephen Sundquist and Scientific Director Dr. Janet Dancey, with central program management delivered under OICR's institutional umbrella.

Name

canadian cancer clinical trials network

Legal name

Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network

Website

https://3ctn.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Network (3CTN) is a not-for-profit pan-Canadian network, hosted by OICR, that coordinates academic cancer clinical trials across 51 cancer centres through CRAFT, EDGE CTMS, Trial Finders, and a Patient Partner Learning Hub.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Cancer Clinical Trials Coordination

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Oncology Pathways & Precision Medicine Decision Support (HLACAGAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

Oncology Remote Symptom Monitoring & Care Navigation (HLALAFAD), Oncology Telemedicine Platforms (HLALAGAH), Molecular Tumor Boards & Clinical Interpretation Services (HLAAANAD)

Keywords

• Cancer clinical trials
• Clinical trial coordination
• Decentralized clinical trials
• Trial management systems
• Cancer research network

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Government and Provincial Funding: 3CTN receives core funding from the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR) and provincial cancer agencies. Provincial funding includes contributions from Alberta Cancer Foundation, BC Cancer Foundation, CancerCare Manitoba, Newfoundland and Labrador Health Services. This funding supports network operations, coordinating centre activities, and core funding for member cancer centres.
2. National Funder Support: The Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC) provides national funding for 3CTN operations, EDI initiatives, CRAFT implementation, and demonstration projects. CPAC has awarded specific funding for equity initiatives ($600,000 for EDI projects) and decentralized clinical trial expansion.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

3CTN coordinates a pan-Canadian network of 51-52 cancer centres that supports the recruitment, efficiency, and quality of academic cancer clinical trials. Its core offerings include the 3CTN Trial Portfolio with real-time Power BI reporting, the CRAFT decentralized clinical trial delivery model, the EDGE Clinical Trials Management System, web-based Canadian Cancer Trial Finder and Canadian Precision Oncology Trial Finder search tools, the Patient Partner Learning Hub and Annex, and EDI and Core Competency learning resources for researchers and patient partners.

Product overview

3CTN operates as a network-based platform offering a portfolio of academic clinical trials supported by multiple interconnected tools and resources. The core offering is the 3CTN Portfolio, an interactive repository of cancer clinical trials with real-time Power BI reporting. Key supporting tools include CRAFT (Canadian Remote Access Framework for Clinical Trials) for decentralized trial delivery enabling patients to participate closer to home, the Canadian Cancer Trial Finder and Canadian Precision Oncology Trial Finder for trial discovery, and EDGE as the partner Clinical Trials Management System. Additional resources include the Patient Partner Learning Hub and Patient Partner Learning Annex for patient education, the EDI Framework and Toolkit for equity and inclusion practices, the Core Competency Learning Hub for researcher training, impACCT Virtual Rounds for trial presentations, and the G.A.P.P. Webinar Series for operational guidance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Canadian Remote Access Framework for Clinical Trials (CRAFT): A decentralized clinical trial model using a hub-and-spoke approach to enable trial participation closer to home for patients in rural and remote areas.
• Canadian Cancer Trial Finder
• Canadian Precision Oncology Trial Finder
• EDGE
• Patient Partner Learning Annex

Products and services

• 3CTN Portfolio

Named customers2 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

Integration5 records

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCCTG is a key collaborator on clinical trials. Many portfolio trials are CCTG-sponsored studies. Joint initiatives include impACCT Virtual Rounds featuring CCTG trials and collaborative research projects.
• Queering CancercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with Queering Cancer to enrich the EDI Framework and Toolkit with resources specifically addressing needs of sexual and gender diverse (SGD) communities in clinical trials.
• CTRNet (Canadian Tumor Repository Network)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on biospecimen Standard Operating Procedures and tissue banking practices for clinical trials.
• EDGE ClinicalcoreTechnology or Integration3CTN partnered with EDGE Clinical to provide the EDGE CTMS platform to network cancer centres. EDGE supports project management, grant tracking, financial management, and operational workflows for trial units.
• N2 CanadaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on clinical trial education and training resources for network sites.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC): EORTC is the leading European academic cancer clinical trials cooperative group, operating across multiple countries with a portfolio of investigator-initiated trials. As an international incumbent with established network infrastructure and a much larger geographic footprint, EORTC is comparable to 3CTN in mission and structure but operates at significantly greater scale.
• National Cancer Institute (NCI) - Cancer Trials Support Unit: NCI's Clinical Trials Support Unit and broader Cooperative Group Program fund and coordinate US academic cancer trial networks. While broader in scope than 3CTN, NCI's network funding and coordination function for academic oncology trials is directly analogous to 3CTN's pan-Canadian coordinating role.

Direct peers

• SWOG Cancer Research Network: SWOG is one of the largest US National Cancer Institute-sponsored cancer clinical trials cooperative groups, coordinating academic oncology trials across a national network of member institutions. SWOG's centralized coordination model, multi-site trial portfolio, and funder-dependent structure closely mirror 3CTN's pan-Canadian operating model.
• NRG Oncology: NRG Oncology is a US NCI-funded cooperative group that integrates several legacy cancer trial networks to conduct practice-changing oncology research. Like 3CTN, NRG operates a member-institution model with centralized infrastructure, harmonized protocols, and a focus on multi-site academic cancer trials — making it a strong structural peer.
• Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology: Alliance is another US NCI-sponsored cooperative group conducting academic cancer clinical trials across academic medical centers. Its member-institution network structure, NCI funding dependency, and trial portfolio management approach parallel 3CTN's Canadian operating model.
• Canadian Cancer Trials Group (CCTG): CCTG is Canada's largest academic cancer clinical trials cooperative group and a core collaborator with 3CTN. Both organizations coordinate investigator-initiated cancer trials across Canadian cancer centres, share trial sponsors, and collaborate on impACCT Virtual Rounds — making them the most directly comparable peer in the Canadian oncology trials ecosystem.

Emerging players

• Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG): TROG is a cooperative clinical trials group focused on radiation oncology research across Australia and New Zealand. While narrower in scope (radiation oncology only) and smaller in scale, TROG operates a similar multi-site academic trial coordination model and addresses similar rural/regional access challenges through its network.

Others

• Canadian Partnership Against Cancer (CPAC): CPAC is 3CTN's primary national funder and a federal policy initiative coordinating cancer system strategy across Canada. While not a peer network, CPAC's role as a national funder of cancer infrastructure initiatives places it as an institutional stakeholder closely related to 3CTN's mission.
• Ontario Institute for Cancer Research (OICR): OICR is 3CTN's parent host organization and primary funder, also conducting cancer research programs including the Canadian Cancer Clinical Trials Interchange. OICR's translational research mandate and funding of investigator-initiated trials make it an adjacent institutional peer rather than a direct competitor.

Regional players

• Clinical Trials Ontario (CTO): CTO streamlines clinical trial start-up and ethics review across Ontario institutions. While not oncology-specific and not a direct network competitor, CTO addresses similar pain points (trial activation, multi-site coordination) within the same provincial ecosystem that 3CTN serves.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/3ctnnews.bsky.social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/canadian-cancer-clinical-trials

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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