TIDMAVO
RNS Number : 8456A
Advanced Oncotherapy PLC
27 September 2022
PRIOR TO PUBLICATION, THE INFORMATION CONTAINED WITHIN THIS
ANNOUNCEMENT WAS DEEMED BY THE COMPANY TO CONSTITUTE INSIDE
INFORMATION FOR THE PURPOSES OF REGULATION 11 OF THE MARKET ABUSE
(AMMENT) (EU EXIT) REGULATIONS 2019/310. WITH THE PUBLICATION OF
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE
PUBLIC DOMAIN.
27 September 2022
ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY PLC
("Advanced Oncotherapy" or the "Company")
Advanced Oncotherapy's LIGHT accelerator fully operational,
achieving a 230 MeV beam
Significant milestone validates and de-risks the Company's first
commercial LIGHT machine
University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, the
Company's clinical partner for this LIGHT machine, will now
commission the treatment room following a pathway common in the
proton therapy industry
First patient anticipated to be treated in H2 2023
LIGHT system expected to play a key role in 'democratising' the
proton therapy market and addressing a significant unmet need
Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM:AVO), the developer of LIGHT, the
next-generation proton therapy system for cancer treatment, is
pleased to announce that its LIGHT(1) accelerator has successfully
generated a proton beam at 230 megaelectron volts ("MeV"), the
energy required to treat deep-seated tumours at a depth of 32cm, at
its assembly site in Daresbury, Cheshire, UK.
LIGHT is the first linear proton therapy system dedicated to the
treatment of tumours where the proton beam is generated using
linear acceleration, as opposed to traditional proton therapy
systems which use a cyclotron to generate the beam. This is the
most significant milestone in the Company's history and represents
the work undertaken by Advanced Oncotherapy in a variety of complex
scientific disciplines (including but not limited to the fields of
physics, engineering and medicine) resulting in the development of
a novel proton therapy system. The Company believes that the LIGHT
system's small size and other unique characteristics (as outlined
in the Note to Editors below) will make the treatment modality more
accessible and affordable ('democratising') to cancer patients
around the world whose tumours have been shown to respond to this
therapy.
The Company's clinical partner, University Hospitals Birmingham
NHS Foundation Trust ("UHB"), will now begin the commissioning
process for the treatment room, with the aim of treating the first
patient in the second half of 2023 at the assembly site in
Daresbury. This will use a pathway followed by all proton therapy
systems as part of the certification process.
Upcoming development milestones to be achieved in collaboration
with UHB include:
(i) patient positioning and imaging system calibration;
(ii) approval of the patient treatment room in Daresbury in
accordance with UHB guidance and requirements;
(iii) UK Health Research Authority ethical approval; and
(iv) end-to-end clinical test acceptance.
Together with UHB and Clarivate, a global analytics company, the
Company continues to define the clinical protocol for treating the
first patients with the LIGHT system. This has been conducted in
close co-ordination with the US Food and Drug Administration
("FDA"), the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
("MHRA") and the European Notified Body, which the Company consults
with on a regular basis.
The Company believes the LIGHT machine represents a lower cost
option for the provision of proton therapy, making it more widely
available to patients that need it. There are currently 114 proton
beam therapy centres globally, meaning that only an estimated
87,000 cancer patients can be treated in a year, at a cost that is
often out of reach of individual patients and unsustainable for
healthcare systems. The Company believes that in the next twenty
years the industry will need more than 10,000 additional proton
therapy treatment rooms to be constructed to meet global demand,
representing a 50-fold increase over the current global
capacity.
Advanced Oncotherapy continues to progress its commercial
pipeline and is exploring additional opportunities for the sale or
lease of LIGHT machines to healthcare providers to aid in this
significant unmet need. Ongoing work to optimise the Company's
machine installation process following completion of the first
operational LIGHT machine is anticipated to reduce manufacturing
timelines for future LIGHT systems. The Company has already
established partnerships with key customers including the London
Clinic, Saba Partners and the Mediterranean Hospital in Cyprus,
and, in addition to advancing these established partnerships, the
Company anticipates today's validation of the LIGHT system to
prompt further commercial momentum.
The Company intends to hold an investor day in October and
further details will be provided in due course.
Dr. Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman of Advanced
Oncotherapy, said:
"We are excited to announce that our first LIGHT accelerator is
now fully operational with a 230 MeV beam - a significant milestone
in the Company's history, which marks the start of a new era for
Advanced Oncotherapy and potentially the proton therapy market more
broadly. There is currently a significant unmet medical need in the
treatment of cancer and with this latest achievement we are a step
closer towards achieving our mission of democratising proton
therapy.
" We are hopeful that today's validation of the LIGHT system
will prompt further commercial momentum and anticipate this to
accelerate the execution of our commercial pipeline, and we look
forward to providing further updates on this in due course. We look
forward to moving towards the next stage of this project which will
be led by our clinical partner UHB and use a pathway followed by
all proton therapy systems as part of the certification
process.
"On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank all our
employees, suppliers and partners involved in this revolutionary
project for their efforts and dedication towards the completion of
our first machine. In addition, I would like to thank all our
shareholders for supporting us and for their loyalty over the
years."
Professor Steve Myers, Executive Chairman of ADAM S.A.,
added:
"After 20 years of research at CERN and ADAM, I am delighted to
witness the application of this technology into the first
commercial LIGHT machine operating at 230 MeV, a milestone which
demonstrates that our unique technology works, and we are now keen
to progress with our aim of making proton therapy available for
many more patients."
-S -
Advanced Oncotherapy plc www.avoplc.com
Dr. Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 20 3617 8728
Nicolas Serandour, CEO
Allenby Capital Limited (Nomad and
Joint Broker)
Nick Athanas / Piers Shimwell (Corporate Tel: +44 (0) 20 3328 5656
Finance)
Amrit Nahal / Matt Butlin (Sales
and Corporate Broking)
SI Capital Ltd (Joint Broker)
Nick Emerson Tel: +44 (0) 1483 413 500
Jon Levinson Tel: +44 (0) 20 3871 4066
FTI Consulting (Financial PR & IR) advancedoncotherapy@fticonsulting.com
Simon Conway / Rob Winder Tel: +44 (0) 20 3727 1000
Notes to Editors
(1) Linac Image Guided Hadron Technology
Background on the LIGHT system
LIGHT is a high frequency full-linear proton accelerator,
developed by Advanced Oncotherapy, based on pioneering science from
the European Organization for Nuclear Research ("CERN") and
Applications of Detector and Accelerators to Medicine ("ADAM S.A.")
in Switzerland.
The LIGHT system offers several advantages in comparison to
circular proton therapy systems. Instead of accelerating protons in
a spiral as is the case with cyclotrons, LIGHT speeds up the
protons in a straight line. Protons are accelerated in a series of
accelerating modules that can be individually switched on or off, a
purely electronic process that is designed to be carried out at up
to 200 times a second. The energy setting - relevant for
determining the depth at which radiation is deposited - is achieved
without the need to use mechanical absorbers, a major source of
stray radiation that must be contained through large and expensive
shielding. In addition, the LIGHT system allows for an ultra-fast
delivery of radiation into tumours, which is 100-fold quicker than
competing systems. The operational accelerator has been designed to
continuously vary the energy levels of the proton beam, from 70 MeV
to 230 MeV, in only five milliseconds.
Advanced Oncotherapy's LIGHT system is significantly smaller
than traditional cyclotron-based proton therapy machines and its
versatility and technical properties are expected to have a major
impact on the proton therapy market, both in terms of clinical
efficacy and affordability. LIGHT has been designed to minimise the
costs of setting up and running a proton therapy centre, as it is
modular and can be easily installed directly into clinical
facilities. The modularity of the LIGHT system also brings
additional benefits for customers in the context of facilitating
high-volume production and optimising future costs as well as
funding the acquisition of the equipment and reducing the upfront
capital requirements.
About Advanced Oncotherapy Plc
Advanced Oncotherapy, a UK headquartered company with offices in
London, Geneva, The Netherlands and in the USA, is a provider of
particle therapy with protons that harnesses the best in modern
technology. 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's
compact configuration delivers proton beams in a way that
facilitates greater precision and electronic control.
Advanced Oncotherapy will offer healthcare providers affordable
systems that will enable them to treat cancer with innovative
technology as well as expected lower treatment-related side
effects.
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.
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