Billy Boyle celebrates the teamwork at the heart of Owlstone Medical’s success
Billy Boyle is, at 44, already a titanic figure in the world of healthcare.
The co-founder and CEO launched Owlstone Medical in 2016 to save 100,000 lives from cancer and cut $1.5bn from healthcare costs by advancing early detection, initially via its non-invasive breathalyser for disease.
The 100k mission is already well under way, with Owlstone finding ways to improve non-invasive diagnostics for lung cancer, asthma, liver disease and digestive disease. Detection diagnostics for digestive health and other conditions are also in the mix, and Owlstone also participates in extensive partnerships focusing on multiple cancer types, pulmonary hypertension, mesothelioma, workplace exposures and others.
“Lung cancer is definitely the number one target,” Billy says of progress to date. “It’s still the leading cancer killer both in the UK and globally with people being diagnosed with lung cancer who have never smoked. Early detection increases survival rates by up to 10 times which can make a huge difference and that’s why we’re so focused and why we’re working with the Royal Papworth Hospital.”
He mentions the EVOLUTION trial at the Royal Papworth, a clinical trial to test if a specific form of ethanol detected in exhaled breath can be used for the early diagnosis of lung cancer. The trial, reported in the Cambridge Independent in September, aims to recruit 25 patients who have lung cancer and 25 healthy volunteers who do not, under the watchful eye of Dr Robert Rintoul, lead clinician for cancer at Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and director of the Papworth Trials Unit Collaboration.
“We need to work closely with clinicians,” Billy notes of Dr Rintoul’s participation. “They dedicate their time to the ongoing trials and we’re optimistic: the data is very positive, but of course there are no guarantees of success.”
Why is the incidence of lung cancer increasing among non-smokers?
“There was a new study a few weeks ago which found various types of particulate exposure from air pollution, so people may have mutations in cells and in their airways that leads to lung cancer. There’s still work to be done, but the case risk is increasing with age for all cancer types.”
The study, by UCL and the Francis Crick Institute, was published in September. The subsequent report speculated that air pollution could promote the growth of cells carrying cancer-causing mutations elsewhere in the body. Owlstone’s breath biopsy test helps detect some of these other mutations, notes Billy.
“Most chemicals on the breath don’t originate from the lungs – it’s counter-intuitive. Most come from the blood, not the airways, where you also have the small gases and light molecules – the key is blood. Other chemicals are produced by the microbiome, which go from the blood to the airways.”
Billy is acutely aware of the dangers of misdiagnosis which Owlstone’s breath biopsy is remedying – he lost his wife Kate, mother to their two sons, to cancer in 2014.
“My wife was diagnosed with colorectal cancer and for five years it was misdiagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome until eventually she had a colonoscopy,” he says.
“My wife’s late diagnosis was obviously a personal situation but almost every family in the country has been touched by cancer. There are a lot of problems to be overcome, but it’s one of those areas where the use of breath tests could really help break that long diagnostic shortfall and aid early detection.”
“The nature of progress in respect of cancer is extremely difficult,” he says, “so it all goes back to the nature of the people in the business, and having the right skills, working effectively together, because if you don’t have that you’ve no chance of success in solving these problems.”
The tests are conducted at Owlstone’s premises on Cambridge Science Park, home to 200 employees.
“Cambridge is a fantastic place for very talented people, both homegrown and people coming into the area. It’s a very rich talent pool here and the nature of the work we do is quite specialist so we aim to attract the best people. It’s a very competitive marketplace and working at Owlstone gives the opportunity to join a team focusing on something very meaningful – enabling people to pick up a diagnosis sooner rather than later.”
Over 150 partners worldwide are now using Owlstone breath biopsy devices in their research, and more than 500 patients a month are already benefitting from non-intrusive digestive health breath testing.
“The question now is how do you give doctors the right tools? If more diagnostic companies can provide the right tools, ultimately that will help everyone involved.”
