Cosylab and Deerfield Management seek to increase awareness around designing, financing, and operating a Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) center

New York, NY, and Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 25, 2022 – Deerfield Management, a healthcare investment firm, and Cosylab, one of the leading providers of turnkey software solutions for the world's most complex, precise and advanced systems, announced today they are partnering to host an educational webinar "Designing, Financing, and Operating a BNCT Center" on Nov. 9, with eminent experts on BNCT installations and centers.

BNCT is a targeted radiation cancer therapy in which neutron beams destroy only boron compound-bearing tumors without destroying neighboring normal tissue. BNCT has the potential to deliver highly effective and cell-localized radiation therapy to treat tumors with minimal impact on the patient's quality of life compared to other radiation, chemotherapy or biological treatment modalities currently in use.

Estimates show that at least 1,800 BNCT centers could operate in oncology departments worldwide in twenty years to meet global demand. To help advance the industry in bringing BNCT treatments to patients globally, Deerfield Management and Cosylab are collaborating with the BNCT ecosystem, including universities, clinics, BNCT device manufacturers and novel boron-carrier developers.

“BNCT could prove to be an important option in the armamentarium for treating cancer, and it is a pleasure to be presenting on this webinar alongside luminaries in the field,” said Avi Kometz, M.D., Partner at Deerfield Management. “Medical technology is rapidly changing, and Deerfield strives to work with others to ensure patients have access in a timely fashion.”

“BNCT is a critical advancement in oncology but is not yet widely accessible. This therapy could be very beneficial for certain patients and we are excited to be able to work alongside Cosylab and increase global access to such an important therapy,” said David Greenwald, Ph.D., Vice President, Business Development of Deerfield Management. “These webinars aim to provide deeper insights for healthcare professionals and hospital administrators to share best practices on operating a BNCT center.”

Cosylab is a proven partner of medical device manufacturers with over two decades of expertise in solving complex software challenges in radiation therapy and helping bring innovative modalities into clinical practice. OncologyOne, Cosylab's software suite of medical-grade products, supports a growing number of clinical and technical advancements in BNCT.

“We are excited to partner with companies helping to bring BNCT to clinical use, which is in line with Cosylab’s dedication to improving radiation therapy at the highest level and providing advanced cancer care to patients,” said Mark Plesko, Ph.D., CEO at Cosylab. “We believe in the future of BNCT as one of the methods that can deliver high treatment efficacy to oncology clinicians while ensuring short treatment time resulting in greater patient comfort during treatments, fewer side effects and faster recovery.”

“We are delighted to draw attention to this promising cancer treatment modality in order to foster the development of BNCT systems and centres and hopefully make it available to patients worldwide,” said Miha Ulcar, Chief Growth Officer at Cosylab.

The session will be led by:

• Naonori Hu, Ph.D., Assistant Professor at Osaka Medical and Pharmaceutical University Kansai BNCT Medical Center;
• Avi Kometz, M.D., Partner on the Medical Technologies Team at Deerfield Management;
• Sandro Rossi, General Director of The National Centre for Oncological Hadrontherapy (CNAO);
• Mikko Tenhunen, Professor, Chief Medical Physicist, and Head of Division at Helsinki University Hospital.

Register here to learn about the expertise required to operate a BNCT center, how to optimize the workflow, how to compare operating structures and financial models, the differences between reactor-based and accelerator-based BNCT centers, and more.