TomoTherapy Participates In New Venture To Develop A Compact Proton Therapy System

Madison, WI - TomoTherapy Incorporated recently announced its participation in a new venture, Compact Particle Acceleration Corporation (CPAC), to develop a state-of-the-art, compact proton therapy system for the treatment of cancer. The system will feature a dielectric-wall accelerator (DWA).

CPAC conducted the initial closing of phase I of the investment, and anticipates completing phase I with one or more additional closings over the next several months. Investors in CPAC will include TomoTherapy, private investors and potential customers. A total investment of approximately $45M is anticipated to be completed in three phases which are linked to key technological milestones.

The DWA technology, which resulted from defense-related research at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), has the potential to bring fixed and rotational intensity-modulated proton therapy (IMPT) to treat cancer into the medical mainstream. It is distinct from current particle accelerator technology in that energies of 200 MeV are expected to be achieved within a relatively compact structure that fits in a standard therapy treatment room as compared to other technologies that require significantly more space and weight-bearing capacity (up to several hundred tons).

"The formation of CPAC will accelerate the development of the DWA," said Fred Robertson, TomoTherapy's CEO. "The new venture is also expected to reduce risk to the company, as it will focus DWA development for applications beyond medical applications and the investors funding this work will pool their resources with TomoTherapy to increase the speed and likelihood of success."

According to Shawn Guse, Vice President, Secretary and General Counsel of TomoTherapy and CEO of CPAC, "We believe, as do the investors who have committed funding to this project, that compact proton therapy systems are the future of particle therapy. The collaboration of TomoTherapy, CPAC and LLNL strengthens our commitment to deliver on the promise of this technology, and increases our capacity to move proton therapy to market more quickly."

TomoTherapy will contribute intellectual property to CPAC in exchange for its interest in the company. It will co-develop the compact proton therapy system with CPAC and has the option to acquire the medical applications of the DWA from CPAC in the future. CPAC will also continue to collaborate with LLNL to optimize the DWA for particle therapy and other applications. CPAC will also work with other commercial partners to develop the DWA for non-medical applications.

SOURCE: TomoTherapy Incorporated