Why Invest in BNCT Centres?
Why should investors be interested in boron neutron capture therapy? Firstly, BNCT can cure or alleviate certain types of cancers that other therapy modalities have not yet been able to date. This will solidify BNCT as a disruptive radiation therapy, not just an incremental one.
Secondly, the spectrum of tumours BNCT could treat is broad, increasing its cancer-treating utility. Thirdly, BNCT can be used outside oncology in other therapeutic areas. As BNCT is a complex system of devices, software, drugs, and healthcare provision, there are potentially many ways for clinics and investors to reap their respective rewards.
When to Invest in BNCT?
Avi Kometz from Deerfield Management underlined that embracing novel radiation therapy technology can present both a risk and an opportunity. For some medical centres, it may be beneficial to be an early adopter of BNCT, as they would be able to treat very challenging tumours sooner. It also enhances a centre’s competitive advantage, becoming a referral institution for treating difficult cancers. At the same time, it enables the radiation oncology team to pursue leading-edge research programs, such as alpha-particle therapy.
Operating BNCT in a medical centre can be profitable overall, although planners must vet the technology beforehand to confirm its risk-benefit profile. Therefore, early adopters should weigh and analyse the risks inherent to their case, preparing mitigation scenarios, such as repurposing the BNCT centre as an alternative — for example, as a proton therapy facility.
What is the Construction Timeline of a BNCT Centre?
When a hospital starts establishing a BNCT centre, it is probably four years away from fully treating patients in a clinical program. The first year is usually dedicated to planning, while the next 12 to 18 months are devoted to site construction or adaptation. Around two years is needed for system installation, a part of which can begin before the work on the site is complete, running in parallel. Lastly, the centre commissioning can take anywhere between six and eighteen months, depending on local regulations and other legal considerations.
How Much Does a BNCT Centre Cost?
Broadly, the costs of a BNCT centre consist of two parts. The first covers the initial setup costs, while the second defines the annual operating expenses. The financing of the upfront – or setup — costs of a BNCT centre in the US comes to 40 to 50 million USD. The latter covers the procurement and commissioning of the accelerator-based BNCT device and other equipment, the facility construction and the equipping of the centre.
A representative estimate for the BNCT device is about 25 million USD, which includes the proton accelerator, the software, the patient bed and robotics, the imaging equipment and the treatment room itself. The construction costs depend on whether the facility is a greenfield or is a repurposed existing facility, so they run between 15 to 25 million USD.
The annual costs, on the other hand, consist of running and maintaining the “BNCT accelerator”, the staffing expenses, and all of the daily-operating costs. Avi Kometz estimated the annual operating expenses of a BNCT centre in the United States to be from 9 to 12 million USD, of which the part covered by the service and warranty agreement between the clinic and the accelerator vendor would be between 2 and 3 million USD.
The staffing costs for the medical centre would include expenses for the professional workforce providing the healthcare, administration and management services. These would run at about 6 to 8 million USD a year. The costs for the daily operations and utilities, such as marketing, would be in the vicinity of a million USD annually.