From Fusion Energy To Med Device … To Drug Developer?

By Ed Miseta, Chief Editor, Clinical Leader

It’s not often you hear the CEO of a life sciences company say things like, “The big technology advancement we were waiting on was using accelerators to generate the needed neutron radiation.” Of course, not many life sciences companies have “fusion energy” listed as one of their areas of expertise. But that’s not the only thing atypical about TAE Life Sciences (TLS).

TLS was launched to develop a technology to deliver neutrons for an advanced type of cancer therapy called Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT). BNCT was first introduced in the U.S. in the 1950s, but despite promising results, its use stalled due to the need for a better boron-10 compound and access to a new neutron source. But as Bruce Bauer, CEO of TLS, alluded to in that opening quote, BNCT is currently experiencing a bit of a renaissance. “With the advancements that have been made, BNCT can one day be administered in a practical way in a hospital setting,” he says.