About us

Tenboron was founded in 2010 and started operation in late 2011. The inspiration came from the successful BNCT trials conducted at the Helsinki University Central Hospital and the VTT nuclear reactor facility FiR-1. Despite the good outcomes, it became clear that the boron carrier used in those trials was far from optimal.

All previous boron carrier development had taken place in academic research programs. There were no carriers that were approved by any regulatory authority. We wanted to develop approved and thus commercially available carriers.

The beginning was not easy. The decision to shut down the reactor was made in 2012, and the company providing BNCT treatment went bankrupt in the same year. Luckily, however, accelerator-based neutron sources had started to emerge, and now first ones are operational in Japan and China. There will be many more in the coming years.

People and partner network

Board and management

Dr. Timo Veromaa,
Chairman

Timo Veromaa is currently Professor of Practice in Drug Development at the University of Turku, Finland. He is the former CEO of BioTie Therapies Corp. Timo has an M.D. a Ph.D. (immunology), and an Executive MBA from the University of Turku.

Dr. Anu Muona,
Board Member

Anu Muona is the founding CEO of Aranda Pharma Ltd. Anu has PhD in molecular biology and extensive background in both academic research and leading preclinical drug development programs in oncology, neurology and dermatology.

Dr. Pekka Kallio,
Board Member

Pekka Kallio has 30 years of experience from academia, biotech, pharma and FIMEA/EMA. He has been Head and Director of Oncology Research at Orion Corporation and reviewed clinical trial applications at FIMEA/EMA, among other responsibilities. Pekka received his Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki and was a postdoctoral fellow at Karolinska Institute.

Dr. Seppo Pakkala,
Board Member and Chief Medical Officer

M.D., Ph.D. is Specialist in Medicine and Clinical Haematology and Associate Professor in Experimental Haematology at the University of Helsinki.

Mr. Juha Jouhki,
Chief Executive Officer

M.Sc (Technology), M.Sc.(Biochemistry). Founding member and long-time chairman of BioTie Therapies Corp. and has served in the Boards of numerous SME’s. He was also the chairman of Tenboron before assuming the CEO position in 2015.

R&D and project management

Partner: Glykos Finland Ltd.

Dr. Jari Helin,
Head of CMC

M.Sc. (Biochemistry), Ph.D. (Biochemistry), 58 articles in international peer-reviewed journals. Co-inventor of 24 patents and 91 patent applications

Dr. Jukka Hiltunen,
Project manager

Ph.D. (Physiological zoology), MBA more than 18 years of experience in patent portfolio and innovation management, Business intelligence and patent strategy implementation.