Second commercial sale of proton therapy system

RNS Number : 8961C

Advanced Oncotherapy PLC

21 October 2015

 

21 October 2015

ADVANCED ONCOTHERAPY PLC

("Advanced Oncotherapy" or the "Company")

Second commercial sale of proton therapy system in China

Further Framework Agreements for four new proton therapy centres

Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO), the developer of next-generation proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, announces that, further to the announcement of 20 August 2015, it has now received a purchase order for its LIGHT machine from the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, through its partnership with Sinophi Healthcare Limited ("Sinophi").

The China-Japan Union Hospital is one of the largest hospitals in NE China with over 3,300 beds and is located in Changchun, Jilin Province. The purchase order, worth between $75-80m (subject to final configuration of the treatment rooms), relates to a single LIGHT system to be installed at the heart of a five treatment room facility.

This is the second commercial sale of the Company's next-generation proton therapy system in China and follows the announcement in March 2015 that the Company's LIGHT system will be installed as part of Sinophi's oncology hospital project in Huai'an City, in Jiangsu province, East China.

Sinophi is a UK company investing in and managing public general and speciality hospitals in China, providing them with the best and most affordable technology to improve patient outcomes. Sinophi has an exclusive 15-year agreement with Advanced Oncotherapy to distribute the Company's LIGHT system in China and a number of other countries in Southeast Asia.   

In addition, and to coincide with the UK State Visit of China's President His Excellency Mr Xi Jinping, Sinophi have announced that further Framework Agreements will be confirmed at a signing ceremony to be held later today. In total the signing ceremony will ratify the building and establishment of various hospital facilities in China at a total cost of approximately £800m. These include the building of the two hospitals in Huai'an City and Changchun, Jilin Province where Advanced Oncotherapy has now received purchase orders for its LIGHT system, as well as four additional Sinophi Proton Centres that are expected to use Advanced Oncotherapy's technology, and the development of a maternity hospital.

The Framework Agreements with the four additional Sinophi Proton Centres agreements do not as yet constitute purchase orders for the LIGHT machine. As and when these are received the Company will update shareholders.

Commenting, Sanjeev Pandya, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: "I am delighted to have signed our second commercial purchase order for our LIGHT system. This, and the further Framework Agreements being signed today, are a testament to the successful partnership between Sinophi's strong healthcare network in China and our ground-breaking proton therapy technology. The advantages of our technology over existing products is generating strong interest across China. With over 20% of the world's newly diagnosed cancer cases coming from China this market represents a huge opportunity for us."

Commenting on the signings, Dr Hanif Kanji, CEO of Sinophi Healthcare Limited said: "The UK and China have many shared challenges dealing with cancer. Our Sinophi Proton Centres in five of China's leading cities will expand to more Chinese cities to support the objectives of the Chinese Government's healthcare reform programme by making proton treatment widely available at reduced cost, saving lives and improving the quality of life of cancer patients."  

Advanced Oncotherapy Plc	www.avoplc.com
Sanjeev Pandya, CEO	Tel: [phone]
Nicolas Serandour, CFO
Westhouse Securities (Nomad & Joint Broker)
Antonio Bossi / David Coaten	Tel: [phone]
Beaufort Securities (Joint Broker)
Jon Levinson / Elliot Hance	Tel: [phone]
Walbrook PR (Financial PR & IR)	Tel: [phone] or [e-mail]
Paul McManus / Anna Dunphy	Mob: [phone] / Mob: [phone]

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 fraction of the size and significantly lower in 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.

 

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