Directorate Change

RNS Number : 3932W

Advanced Oncotherapy PLC

09 February 2017

 

ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY PLC

("Advanced Oncotherapy" or the "Company")

Directorate Change

Appointment of Dr Nick Plowman as Non-Executive Director

Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, announces the appointment of Dr Nick Plowman, Senior Clinical Oncologist at St Bartholomew's Hospital ("Barts") and the Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street ("GOSH") in London, as a Non-Executive Director with immediate effect.

Dr Nick Plowman is the UK's senior radiotherapist. Qualified through Cambridge (double first: medical sciences and natural sciences), Dr Plowman was appointed as consultant to St Bartholomew's Hospital and GOSH, London in 1982. He is currently senior physician to both these hospitals. During these 35 years Dr Plowman has pioneered most of the new technologies in the field of Clinical Radiotherapy. He has the longest and widest experience in radiosurgery (Gamma Knife and Cyberknife) of the brain, followed by spine, and then radiosurgery of the body, and is the Medical Director of the Cyberknife Centre, London. St Bartholomew's Hospital is the only UK centre with both these radiosurgical facilities in the UK.

Early in his career, and with his team at Barts, Dr Plowman introduced lens sparing ocular radiotherapy, the most precise radiation therapy method of its era, the blueprints for which were requested by and given to hospitals in Stanford, California, and Tokyo. This innovative process continued to be used at Barts, for the Moorfield's ocular tumour practice, up until recently.

Dr Plowman's team were the first in the UK to publish research on Tomotherapy/IMRT when this new technology became available in the UK at the Cromwell Hospital. He has published widely with over 350 research publications and edited textbooks including one on the complications of cancer management.

Dr Plowman developed an eager early interest in new proton beam technology, as the advantages for this therapy in clinical practice are significant. Dr Plowman became Chairman of the AVO Medical Advisory Board in October 2013 and has gradually acquired a significant personal holding in the company as detailed below.

Commenting, Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman of Advanced Oncotherapy said: "Dr Plowman has been a welcome source of expert clinical knowledge through his input to our advisory board and we look forward to extending his contribution to the Company in this new role. Few people in the UK can boast a higher level of expertise in radiation oncology or enthusiasm for supporting and pioneering new radiation technology than Nick and we are delighted to bring these to bear through his position on our Board."

Also commenting, Dr Nick Plowman said: "It is great news for UK patients that London will spearhead this important advance in proton therapy. It is our mission to make this cutting-edge treatment more readily available to all those who need it and Advanced Oncotherapy are at the forefront with our technology. The next generation 'LIGHT' protons look to supplant current generation technology in many ways and we look forward to what we hope will be a great commercial success story with these machines."

Information to be disclosed under Schedule 2(g) and Rule 17 of the AIM rules

Piers Nicholas Plowman (aged 66), currently owns 2,636,799 shares in Advanced Oncotherapy

Current Directorships	Directorships in the last five years
None	Intuition Communication Limited

Dr Plowman is also a Designated Member of Robotic Radiosurgery LLP.

Other than the information contained in this announcement, there is no further information required to be disclosed under Rule 17 and Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules.

For further information, please contact:

Advanced Oncotherapy plc	www.avoplc.com
Nicolas Serandour, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
Michael Sinclair, Executive Chairman
Stockdale Securities (Nomad & Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Antonio Bossi / David Coaten
Stifel Nicolaus Europe (Joint Broker)	Tel: [phone]
Jonathan Senior / Ben Maddison
Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR)	Tel: [phone] or [e-mail]
Paul McManus	Mob: [phone]
Anna Dunphy	Mob: [phone]

About Advanced Oncotherapy plc www.avoplc.com

Advanced Oncotherapy 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 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 greater precision and electronic control which is not achievable with older technologies.

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.

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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