The founding of BIONT company is linked to the Cyclotron Centre of the Slovak Republic (CCSR), a project carried out by the Slovak Office of Standards, Metrology and Testing (SOSMT). The project’s aim was to establish a multi-purpose scientific research and operations centre that would provide:
- basic and applied research in radiochemistry, physics, biology, and medicine
- production of radionuclides and radiopharmaceuticals
- other application of accelerator technologies in medicine and materials research
The whole project was approved, controlled and revised by the Government Resolutions (GR) of the Slovak Republic Nr. 434/1996 (project launch), Nr. 881/1998, Nr. 659/1999, Nr. 660/1999, Nr. 865/2000, Nr. 1003/2004 (establishment of a joint stock company), Nr. 1195/2004, Nr. 970/2007, Nr. 1105/20074, Nr. 242/2008, Nr. 322/2008 (rearrangement of the shareholders’ structure), Nr. 776/2009, Nr. 215/2011, Nr. 47/2012, Nr. 564/2012, Nr. 14/2014. Nr. 285/2015.
Project development
1996 – GR Nr. 434/1996
Approval of the strategic initiative to build the Cyclotron Centre, to be implemented by SOSMT.
1996 – 2001
Feasibility study, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), general agreement (drafted and closed) on the CCSR to be delivered as a turnkey project from the Russian Federation.
2001 – GR Nr. 407/2001
The project is split into several buildings:
- PET Centre with a small cyclotron for the production of PET radiopharmaceuticals (Pavilion I)
- Building with a 72 MeV cyclotron for medical, scientific and production purposes (Pavilion J)
- Administrative building and workshop (Pavilions D and E)
- Purpose-built accommodation facility (Building C – name of location: Kramare)
2001 – 2003
Preparatory phase for the construction of the PET Centre (Validation Master Plan, detailed planning, and a project qualification for the reconstruction of Pavilion I).
27 May 2003
Foundation stone laying ceremony and the commencement of the construction works.
21 September 2004
PET Centre opening.
27 October 2004
Adoption of the GR Nr. 1003/2004 to establish a joint-stock company comprised of the finished parts of the CCSR project.
21 January 2005
Founding of the joint stock company BIONT, a.s. and its entry into the Business Register of the Slovak Republic.
The allocation of shares was suggested as follows: 36% Ministry of Economy, 22% Ministry of Health, 15% SOSMT, 15% Ministry of Education, 12% Ministry of Defence; eventually implemented as follows: 95% SOSMT, the rest 5% in total.
2008 – GR Nr. 322/2008
Change in share management distribution: 95% Ministry of Education, 5% SOSMT.
Founding of the company
2005 – First year of the company’s existence.
January – Founding of the company – change from Cyclotron Centre of the Slovak Republic by SOSMT to a joint stock company BIONT, a.s.
June – Complex testing of the equipment.
July – Permission to use the building.
August – Permission to work and produce sources of ionizing radiation – Permission to provide healthcare services.
19 September – The first patient for the SPECT/CT imaging.
25 October – The first patient for the PET/CT scanning.
December – Permission to produce medical drugs.
14 December – The first production of FDG.
Nasledujúce roky
1 March 2006
Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) Certificate.
2006 – 2008
Licensed production of FDG by the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences.
2006
Pilot syntheses of 18F-DOPA and 11C-Raclopride
2008
Registration of biontFDG sol inj in Slovakia
Pilot synthesis of 11C-Methionine
2011
Pilot production of 64Cu
2012
Registration of Fludeoxyglucose F 18 BIONT in Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Romania
License sale to a Turkish company Eczacıbaşı-Monrol for Bulgaria, Poland, and Romania
Installation of the second PET/CT tomograph
Start of a licensed production of Fludeoxyglucose F 18 in Romania
2013
Regular production of 11C-Methionine
2014
Regular production of 11C – Choline
Pilot syntheses of 18F-Choline and 18F-FET
Start of a licensed production of Fludeoxyglucose F 18 in Poland
2015
Regular production of 18F-FET
Start of a licensed production of Fludeoxyglucose F 18 in Bulgaria