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Research · Interreg VI-A Italy–Switzerland

TRANSBORO: BNCT, from compound to clinic.

Brick 42 is a partner in TRANSBORO, a cross-border project developing boron delivery for Boron Neutron Capture Therapy. What the project does, who does it with us, and what the science still has to answer.

The project

What TRANSBORO is doing.

TRANSBORO runs under the Interreg VI-A Italy–Switzerland 2021–2027 programme, uniting institutions in Italy and Switzerland to move BNCT toward patients.

Brick 42 and Exeris Bio are core partners. The work is specific: develop boron-based compounds that improve BNCT's effectiveness, pioneer nanoparticle formulations that deliver boron to cancer cells, and provide the scalable production and regulatory expertise to carry it forward.

Diagram of the two stages of boron neutron capture therapy: a boron-10 compound accumulating in a cancer cell, then neutron irradiation releasing alpha particles and lithium nuclei.
Boron delivery, then neutron irradiation — the two stages of BNCT. Source: TRANSBORO project material.
Stage one

Boron delivery

The patient receives a non-radioactive boron-10 (¹⁰B) compound, designed to accumulate selectively in cancer cells rather than healthy tissue.

Stage two

Neutron irradiation

The area is exposed to low-energy neutrons. Where a neutron meets boron-10, the reaction releases high-energy alpha particles and lithium nuclei — damage confined to the cancer cell, sparing surrounding tissue.

Project facts

  • ProgrammeInterreg VI-A Italy–Switzerland 2021–2027
  • FocusBoron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) — oncology
  • LeadUniversity of Eastern Piedmont (UPO)
  • PartnersUPO · University of Pavia (UNIPV) · Brick 42 · Exeris Bio
  • Co-funded byInterreg · the European Union (Lombardia, Piemonte) · Canton Ticino

Partners & co-funders

Who is in it.

Map of the TRANSBORO project partners across northern Italy and southern Switzerland.
TRANSBORO partners across Lombardia, Piemonte and Canton Ticino. Source: TRANSBORO project material.
Interreg VI-A Italy–Switzerland programme University of Eastern Piedmont University of Pavia Exeris Bio SA Brick 42 Canton Ticino

Partner and funder marks are reproduced from the TRANSBORO project page. Further reading: the project on interreg.eu →, ISNCT →, Osaka BNCT Research Center →.

The BNCT stream

The running record lives in Insights.

BNCT research, regulation and market movement are written up there, alongside the rest of the archive — one list, kept in one place.

Read the BNCT stream in Insights

Next

Have a molecule that needs an answer?

TRANSBORO is one project. The R&D work behind it is the service — and the Gate Brief is where it starts.