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Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) – Technological milestones update
Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, announces further notable progress in the manufacture of its first LIGHT system.
Patient Positioning System
Multiple components of the treatment room have been manufactured, inspected and tested by the Company’s partner P-Cure Ltd., ahead of their integration to form a complete patient treatment system.
The patient positioning subsystem, which includes the patient treatment chair and robotic arm which moves the chair and patient, is complete and has been designed to leverage LIGHT’s next-generation features. As other subsystems are completed, such as imaging and treatment management software, they will be integrated to form the whole Patient Positioning System, which remains on track to be fully developed by the end of 2017.
Beam firing through RFQ
As indicated in the Investor presentation and update of 6 March 2017, the proton beam was fired through the Radio Frequency Quadrupole, at its maximum expected energy, in February 2017. Subsequent work has focused on enhancing the proton source that feeds the RFQ; repeatability of beam firing, intensive usage to facilitate high patient throughput and maximising safety controls are all key elements of LIGHT.
Ionisation chamber
In addition, the Company announces it has received delivery of the LIGHT system’s ionisation chamber, from its partner Pyramid Technical Consultants Inc., to its Geneva testing facility. The ionisation chamber is a critical element of the LIGHT system’s overall safety system, monitoring beam position, spot size and dosage and is situated at the delivery end of the system after the main accelerating modules.
The novel design of the chamber is matched to the unique properties of LIGHT and performs a precise measurement of the position (in horizontal and vertical axes) of the proton beam, with respect to its desired location, and is a critical element of the LIGHT system’s Patient Treatment System. It also accurately monitors the dose (number of protons) delivered to the target. The properties of the LIGHT ionisation chamber allow these measurements to be taken, on a pulse by pulse basis, ensuring accuracy and safety throughout treatment, to a level that cannot be matched by older proton therapy technologies.
Commenting, Nicolas Serandour, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: “As I outlined in my update to shareholders in March, the Company remains focused on delivering the technical development of our first LIGHT machine and its ultimate installation at Harley Street, and I am very pleased with the progress we are making. We will continue to update the market with newsflow on the integration of the LIGHT system’s components, with developments on the CCL units, addition of the SCDTLs to the RFQ and on the Patient Positioning System anticipated in the coming weeks and months.”
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Advanced Oncotherapy Plc |
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Dr. Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman |
Tel: +44 20 3617 8728 |
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Nicolas Serandour, CEO |
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Stockdale Securities (Nomad & Joint Broker) |
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Antonio Bossi / David Coaten |
Tel: +44 20 7601 6100 |
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Stifel Nicolaus Europe (Joint Broker) |
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Jonathan Senior / Ben Maddison |
Tel: +44 20 7710 7600 |
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Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR) |
Tel: +44 20 7933 8780 or avo@walbrookpr.com |
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Paul McManus / Anna Dunphy |
Mob: +44 7980 541 893 / Mob: +44 7876 741 001 |
Advanced Oncotherapy (AVO) – Rocket Science – All Set for Take-off
A research note from Beaufort Securities.
A small, young company with limited financial resources, trying to take on giant, established international peers with exceptionally deep pockets, in a product area that both tests the limits of scientific understanding whilst also facing the scrutiny of the world’s most exhaustive regulators? Sounds like a recipe for disaster! Yet Advanced Oncotherapy plc (‘AVO’) is confident that it will demonstrate a full-scale Linac Image Guided Hadron Technology (or ‘LIGHT’ system) prototype during the course of 2016, before commencing commercial production the following year. Moreover, this wholly-owned technology appears to enjoy quite rigorous global IP protection, while its low-cost, second-generation proton beam therapy device possesses USPs, in terms of price, size and safety features, sufficient to effectively relegate predecessor devices to obsolescence. Given such an outcome, of course, major international competitors wishing to ‘remain in the game’ will almost certainly be willing to pay a very handsome price, one way or another, to get their hands on its proprietary technologies.
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It is now widely accepted that the physical properties of protons, for precise local treatment of cancerous tumours, offer an intrinsic advantage over traditional high-energy X-rays as a source of therapeutic radiation. Yet there are presently only 54 operational proton therapy devices in the whole world. There are good reasons for this, including price (US$160m to US$220m excluding building cost for a ‘first generation’ 3-bay system); size and weight (a four story football pitch and as much as 300 tonnes) and; safety (Cyclotron technology is very hazardous and requires extensive bunkering). AVO’s LIGHT system, by comparison, is compact enough to fit into a single-story penalty area, will cost around one-fifth of the price of the typical price of a three-bay first generation system, will be safe enough to operate in city-centre locations, while requiring much less power to operate, short power-up times, as well as offering a more precise direct and dynamic scanning beam; maintenance and operating costs will also be a fraction of that demanded by existing devices. AVO’s CERN-developed and protected linear accelerator technology has been validated through the successful testing of LIBO (its Linac Booster) which is expected to achieve a 230MeV. This is expected to lead to construction of the first full-sized prototype LIGHT during H2’2016, before moving to first commercialisation in 2017, for which the highly prestigious French multinational, Thales Group, has already started the optimisation studies required for mass production. AVO’s management appears to have significantly reduced the technical, commercial and financing risks that such leading-edge technical developments usually present. It appears set to rapidly capture the larger chunk of an existing ‘big-ticket’ US$2.5bn market that is forecast to nearly triple in size by 2018. Yet, in fact, the true global opportunity for LIGHT is potentially a multiple of this, given that it must also be considered the obvious replacement/upgrade for operators of the giant installed base of aging and, in medical terms at least, relatively antiquated X-ray radiotherapy systems. Tackling the presently significant unmet medical need, given growing incidence of cancer supported by aging populations and lifestyle, for which a global economic cost in 2009 was put at US$286bn, suggests the number of treatment rooms should rise from 121 today to upwards of 13,000. So the reality is that if AVO delivers exactly ‘what it says on the tin’, the operational and cost advantages LIGHT offers will effectively render first generation devices all but obsolete, while also placing the obvious superiority of proton beam technology within reach of the global medical fraternity for the first time. AVO’s principal limitation would then become simply its capacity to deliver, a challenge which is being addressed through the AVO/Thales partnership. |
Click to view the full research note Advanced-Oncotherapy–3-_S
Advanced Oncotherapy announces the successful high power testing of two Coupled Cavity Linac (CCL) modules
Advanced Oncotherapy announces that the high power testing of two Coupled Cavity Linac (CCL) modules at the Company’s facility in Geneva has been successfully completed.
In August the Company announced that the two CCL modules were ready to be tested at high power and marked the first time two CCL modules were tested together. The modules have now been successfully tested at a full power of 7.5MW and full duty cycle at 200Hz. The finished LIGHT system will incorporate 15 CCL modules in total and combined in a series these will accelerate protons to the high energies required to treat radiosensitive tumours.
In addition, tuning has been completed on two further CCL modules at the VDL ETG Projects (“VDL”) headquarters and these are ready to be delivered to the Geneva facility at the end of this month. VDL has in-depth experience and a solid track record in building accelerating modules and is Advanced Oncotherapy’s key supply partner for the CCL modules.
The CCL modules or “higher speed accelerators” are an essential part of the LIGHT system. They consist of a series of cells which accelerate the protons from energies of 37.5 Mega-electron Volts (MeV) to energies that can be applied usefully to a clinical setting.
Commenting, Sanjeev Pandya, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: “The successful conclusion of the CCL tests gives us confidence that the modules will work under the required conditions to deliver the high energy protons that we need to treat patients effectively. We have tested them on maximum power with no complications, and this is another important milestone in delivering our first LIGHT machine.”
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Advanced Oncotherapy Plc |
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Sanjeev Pandya, CEO |
Tel: +44 20 3617 8728 |
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Nicolas Serandour, CFO |
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Westhouse Securities (Nomad & Joint Broker) |
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Antonio Bossi / David Coaten |
Tel: +44 20 7601 6100 |
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Beaufort Securities (Joint Broker) |
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Jon Levinson / Elliot Hance |
Tel: +44 20 7382 8300 |
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Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR) |
Tel: +44 20 7933 8780 or avo@walbrookpr.com |
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Paul McManus / Anna Dunphy |
Mob: +44 7980 541 893 / Mob: +44 7876 741 001 |
About Advanced Oncotherapy Plc www.avoplc.com
Advanced Oncotherapy’s team “ADAM” based in Geneva focuses on the development of a proprietary proton accelerator called Linac Image Guided Hadron Technology (LIGHT). LIGHT accelerates protons to the energy levels achieved in legacy machines but in a unit that is a quarter of the size and between a quarter and a fifth of the cost. This compact configuration delivers proton beams in a way that facilitates a greater precision and electronic control which is not achievable with older technologies.
Advanced Oncotherapy is a provider of particle therapy with protons that harnesses the best in modern technology. As a result, Advanced Oncotherapy will offer healthcare providers affordable systems that will enable them to treat cancer with an innovative technology as well as better health outcomes and lower treatment related side effects.
The Company has signed a purchase agreement with Sinophi Healthcare Limited for one LIGHT proton therapy system to be installed in a hospital in China and has further Letters of Intent from other healthcare providers.
Advanced Oncotherapy continually monitors the market for any emerging improvements in delivering proton therapy and actively seeks working relationships with providers of these innovative technologies. Through these relationships, the Company will remain the prime provider of an innovative and cost-effective system for particle therapy with protons.