First completion of a full treatment workflow in the first European hospital-based BNCT facility
Boston, MA and Ljubljana, Slovenia, November 15, 2022 — Neutron Therapeutics, a targeted radiation therapy company developing a comprehensive solution for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT), and Cosylab, the leading provider of software solutions for the planet’s most complex machines, today announced that they have reached their second joint milestone in the clinical commissioning of Neutron Therapeutics’ nuBeam® BNCT System, utilizing Cosylab’s OncologyOne software, at Helsinki University Hospital – implementation of a complete treatment workflow on a patient model.
BNCT is a targeted radiation cancer therapy in which neutron beams interact with a boron-bearing compound, taken up selectively by tumors, to create DNA-damaging alpha particles within the tumor cells, sparing neighboring, healthy tissue. BNCT has the potential to deliver highly effective, cell-localized radiation therapy to treat tumors with minimal impact on the patient’s quality of life compared to other available treatment options, such as radiation, chemotherapy or biological treatment modalities.
Neutron Therapeutics, Inc. and the Helsinki University Hospital are collaborating to launch the first European hospital-based BNCT facility. Cosylab is a proven partner with over two decades of experience solving complex software and integration challenges in radiation therapy.
Johanna Mattson, Senior Medical Director at the Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center, commented on the recent milestone: “We are extremely happy to see Neutron Therapeutics and Cosylab reach this major joint milestone in the commissioning of the nuBeam® BNCT system at HUS. Our clinicians eagerly anticipate the opportunity to initiate the first clinical trial in Europe using an in-hospital, accelerator-based neutron beam developed for this purpose. We are excited to once again be able to offer BNCT treatment to patients who have had no other options since the shut of the FiR-1 reactor in 2015.”
Neutron Therapeutics’ nuBeam® is a compact accelerator-based, high-throughput neutron source suitable for the clinical setting. nuBeam® replaces legacy nuclear reactors and has the highest neutron flux of all currently available BNCT systems. It is also the only device producing an IAEA-compliant BNCT beam for the effective and safe clinical use of neutrons. During the commissioning process, the Helsinki nuBeam® device has demonstrated both robustness and reliable operation, validating Neutron Therapeutics’ technology as the best choice for high-throughput BNCT clinics with stringent safety requirements.
“To achieve our goal of starting clinical trials at Helsinki University Hospital, our first nuBeam® installation in Europe, in 2023, we needed to demonstrate that the nuBeam® system is highly reliable in the clinical setting and offers a fully-featured and streamlined patient workflow for BNCT. We have succeeded in this due to the deep expertise and capabilities of our close partner Cosylab, who enabled rapid progress on our project, on time and within budget. Neutron Therapeutics is now in a position to maximize the potential of BNCT and to begin delivering its benefits to cancer patients,” said Dr Elizabeth Reczek, CEO of Neutron Therapeutics.
The first implementation of a complete treatment workflow at the Helsinki University Hospital was achieved using Cosylab’s OncologyOne software, the only solution on the market that covers all the needs of a radiation therapy device. OncologyOne brings to the nuBeam® system a software solution for radiation therapy that is much more readily upgradable and integrable than custom-built software, while guaranteeing the shortest time-to-clinical-use.
“This second joint clinical commissioning milestone at Helsinki University Hospital was achieved using Cosylab’s OncologyOne, the medical software product suite already proven in other forefront radiation therapy modalities such as proton therapy. It is developed from the ground up to ensure our customers can transfer their radiation therapy innovations as working solutions to the clinic as quickly as possible. We are pleased that we were, once again, able to help Neutron Therapeutics meet their tight schedule,” emphasized Dr Mark Pleško, CEO of Cosylab.
Finland has been a European hotspot of BNCT research and clinical trials since 1992. With the ongoing clinical verification and validation testing of the nuBeam® system at the Helsinki University Hospital, patients with inoperable, locally recurrent head, neck, and other cancers incurable with conventional radiation therapy are now much closer to reaping benefits from boron neutron capture therapy.