the birth of a SPINOFF: Terapet
part 3: spotlight on a spinoff from CERN
NOVEMBER 2020
by Giammarco Pacifico, Marta Gaia Zanchi
This is Part 3 of a short series of posts in which we explain how turning the next game-changing technology from a lab into a high-impact product available to men and women everywhere has always been the result of a mix of domain knowledge, intellectual curiosity, gut feeling, and being in the right place at the right time, equipped with the right mentors and role models.
Our quest to explain how a health technology spinoff is born started in Switzerland, with a blog on EPFL-spinoff EarlySight. Today, we move just to the other side of Lake Geneva and share the equally inspiring story of CERN-spinoff Terapet, the second Swiss startup that we are proud investors of.
Terapet is a Geneva-based startup founded by two experienced CERN scientists, Christina Vallgren and Marcus Palm. Their goal is to revolutionize proton therapy by improving the technology on its core, guaranteeing real-time 3D analysis of protons to allow more precise treatments with lower doses and faster outputs. “The idea for this project was born in 2018 from Marcus who had been working on the design of a proton therapy facility in Austria (MedAustron) and was the main responsible for two light-based detectors in the LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN,” says Christina, now CEO of Terapet.
“During 2008–2011, Marcus did a Ph.D. on the performance requirement of the beam delivery system (BDS). Part of this work was to study the entire beam delivery chain, from the accelerator to the patient, and translate clinical requirements on dose quality into hardware specifications on different elements (extraction mechanism, scanning magnets, beam intensity/position monitors, nozzle layout, etc.).” Christina points to Marcus’s expertise and know-how as the seeds of the project upon which the company was built. “Apart from the technical aspects, his knowledge also covers clinical workflow, patient safety aspects, a broad knowledge of the proton therapy community, general trends, and future challenges for proton therapy.”
The idea was Marcus’, but it took a strong duo and their partnership to turn an idea into reality. Not only is she a CERN scientist with a Ph.D. in Applied Physics: Christina also holds an MBA from BTH, one of the most distinctly profiled universities in Sweden. The fact that she spends most of her interview time to speak of the merits of her teammates is yet more evidence of her qualities as a startup leader.
Marcus and Christina started to work together on a novel detector technology based on the detection of gamma-rays in real time, in order to maximize the clinical usefulness of the detector used for in-vivo online dose monitoring during proton therapy treatment. “We validated our idea through our network of experts since the earliest stage of the project. We started to investigate market potential, market assessment, business strategy, etc, via our contact network in both proton therapy and small startups. Since the topic and our solution has been very promising and a complete business plan and strategy has carefully been outlined, Terapet managed to attract several renowned experts to join our team. It was then that we decided to move forward to realize the project.”
“I would say the biggest “aha” moment came when Prof. Raymond Miralbell joined us as co-founder. Given his background and expertise in both proton therapy and conventional radiotherapy, that was the best confirmation we could get for our business to move forward,” adds Christina. Raymond had been working on proton therapy since the ’80s in Boston and has experienced first-hand the expectations and disappointments of many research projects in Europe and the US. The precise moment when Christina and Marcus told him about their idea, he jumped from his chair in excitement: “That would be the Holy Grail of proton therapy,” Raymond recalls saying; and when you hear that from a pioneer, you know you are on a good path.
The above mentioned method is a multifunctional gamma-ray detector: by coupling the detectors with a dynamic feedback loop, real-time and accurate monitoring of the proton dose is achieved. Right after their incorporation in 2019, they built and tested a proof-of-concept device, leveraging an ingenious interconnection locking mechanism of the adjacent gamma-ray detectors, which allows releasably connections and position/orientation sensing. “The concept of having an in-vivo real-time dose monitoring during proton therapy treatment is not new. Different methods, with different precision, advantages, and limitations, have been proposed. But so far, there is no commercial medical device available for proton therapy to localize the dose during treatment. This limits the real potential of proton therapy and slows down its growth,” explains the CEO.
The quest to overcome the absence of real-time control of the dose delivered at any moment when treating with radiotherapy is almost as old as the field itself. “The concept was already growing 15 years ago at CERN and in Heidelberg when considering particles for treating cancer. In other words, and to make it simple and intuitive, one can compare it with the action of planning a trip in our smartphone’s Google maps application (equivalent to a 3-D treatment plan in a treatment planning system before starting treatment sessions) and the real-time position of my car as reported by its GPS (imaging of the dose delivery as it reaches the target),” says Raymond.
“When I entered the startup, it was like an old dream come through and I did not hesitate to accept the proposal of Christina and Marcus to join as co-founder. It was my privilege,” adds Raymond. An expert physician with deep expertise in the field was the best complement to the duo of physicists that fathered the concept and the technology. “Fundamental physicists are levitating on air and it’s the job of the medical physicists and radiation oncologist to bring them down to earth. This was and is my role, to foresee clinical applications and translational research with these new gadgets that are going to change the paradigm not only of proton therapy but also of radiotherapy, in general. An exciting time, indeed.”
Readers do not be mistaken, however: before that pivotal “aha” moment in Raymond’s office, a lot of preparation went into the birth of Terapet. “I come from Stenungsund, a town on the West coast of Sweden, and a very business-oriented family. Like me, several of my close childhood’s friends went to Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, which has one of the most famous entrepreneurship programs in the Nordic region. After their studies, several of them became entrepreneurs. Different from what my close friends did, I, on the other hand, right after my degree in nuclear physics, came to CERN in 2008 for a PhD in applied physics. Since then, I have been spending the last 12 years at CERN. My career so far has been exceptionally smooth and action-free.”
But Christina always had a strong inclination business, signaled not only by her choice to pursue an MBA (as well as project management courses) but also a strong will and relentless ambition. “Since Marcus and I are a married couple with two small children, the risk of running a startup is quite high. We didn’t just jump into the deep water without any consideration,” she says. In the end, obviously, they did jump and Terapet is off to amazing beginnings. “Thanks to the trust of our dearest co-founder, Raymond, our board members, Didier and Antonio, our mentors, our investors and all the people who have supported us, we successfully closed our first significant financial round and gained recognition within Swiss Startup ecosystem.” Not to mention, they already have the support of an international VC firm on board. (Yes, that would be us, Nina Capital.) “Don’t be afraid to try because if you don’t try, you’ll never know!” says Christina to all researchers who are thinking of entrepreneurship as their future path‒regardless of where they might be in their life.
Now that such strong foundations are set, the team is expanding, and the founders are confident to bring the company to the next level. Do you want to know more about why we at Nina Capital couldn’t agree more? Read the full story here.
In summary, are a few things we have learned from these CERN scientists turned founders:
- The best discoveries stand on the shoulders of decades of research. Reach out to those who have been a part of it and seen failure. They can help recognize the pivotal moments.
- Who says you should drop your research job/project in order to gain the administration and leadership skills to set up your own business? If your objective is learning, find your own way to learn. Whether it is a full online MBA or some key courses, it is possible to both carry out applied research and study business‒especially now that everyone’s education is online and accessible.
- Technical researchers should seek out the profiles that complement their skill sets, starting with those who understand the clinical need best.
- There is no such thing as a conventional path for scientists to become entrepreneurs. Each company is unique, and so is the team that founded it. The best process to spinoff creation is the one that works, period.
Do you want to read more stories of spinoff creation and of their brilliant researchers turned entrepreneurs? Do not miss our next article, where we go to the country where Christina grew up: Sweden, and specifically to Chalmers University of Technology.
