Provision Contracts With IBA to Install Proton Therapy System

KNOXVILLE, Tenn.--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Provision Healthcare has signed an agreement with IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) for the purchase, installation and maintenance of a new proton therapy system at Tennessee’s first proton beam cancer center, located on a comprehensive medical campus in Knoxville.

“We will gain from IBA’s technological expertise, as well as from the clinical experience of other IBA-installed proton treatment centers. And most importantly, cancer patients at the proton therapy center will benefit greatly.”

The contract, as noted in a press release dated Nov. 2, 2010, is valued at more than $70 million and includes a proton cyclotron, two isocentric-gantry treatment rooms, and a fixed-beam treatment room. A long-term operation and maintenance agreement is also included.

The proton therapy project is being developed by Provision Healthcare on the Provision Health Alliance (PHA) Campus. The facility’s first patients are expected to be treated with cancer-fighting proton beams in early 2014.

In addition to advanced cancer treatment, the Center will also include training and research in conjunction with Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the University of Tennessee. It will be open to referrals from all hospital systems and physicians. Clinical partners on the Provision Health Alliance campus are Tennessee Cancer Specialists and the Knoxville Comprehensive Breast Center, two of the largest diagnostic and therapeutic oncology providers in the state of Tennessee.

The Provision Health Alliance campus is on 35-acres in the Dowell Springs medical park. PHA is a comprehensive clinical outpatient healthcare center consisting of multiple physician practice groups, diagnostic imaging, radiopharmacy, chemotherapy and radiation therapy, wellness center, physical therapy, and clinical trials and research capabilities.

Provision is led by Terry D. Douglass, Ph.D., who has founded numerous innovative medical technology companies over the years, including CTI Molecular Imaging, now Siemens Molecular Imaging.

“Terry Douglass’s vision to bring this latest life-saving technology to cancer patients and their families in Tennessee and beyond is now being realized,” said Mary Elizabeth Klein, Director of IBA Global Sales for Particle Therapy. “We are honored to help bring that vision to life in Knoxville in just a few short years. Of all the brilliant accomplishments in Terry’s career thus far, increased cancer survivorship in Tennessee may be his greatest legacy.”

“IBA is the world leader in proton therapy systems,” said Dr. Douglass, Chairman of Provision and the proton therapy center. “We will gain from IBA’s technological expertise, as well as from the clinical experience of other IBA-installed proton treatment centers. And most importantly, cancer patients at the proton therapy center will benefit greatly.”

To date, IBA proton systems are part of more than half of the world’s clinically based Proton Therapy facilities. They include 11 operational proton therapy centers worldwide and nine more centers currently under development.

IBA is committed to making proton therapy, the most accurate cancer treatment, available worldwide. IBA is the only supplier to have multiple centers treating cancer patients with Pencil Beam Scanning (PBS), the most precise form of Proton Therapy. PBS enables Intensity Modulated Proton Therapy (IMPT), ensuring clinicians can precisely target a cancerous tumor by controlling both the intensity and the spatial distribution of the dose — to the millimeter.

Proton therapy is increasingly considered the most advanced and targeted cancer treatment due to its superior dose distribution and fewer side effects. Protons deposit the majority of their effective energy within a precisely controlled range, directly within the tumor and sparing healthy surrounding tissue. As documented in recent studies concerning treatment of children, higher doses can be delivered to the tumor without increasing the risk of side effects and long-term complications, thereby improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

ABOUT IBA

IBA develops and markets leading-edge technologies, pharmaceuticals and tailor-made solutions for health care with a focus on cancer diagnosis and therapy. Leveraging its scientific expertise, IBA is also active in the field of industrial sterilization and ionization.

Listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT, IBA is included in the BelMid Index.

(IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB).

Website: www.iba-worldwide.com

ABOUT PROVISION

Provision is committed to the development of new, innovative healthcare management solutions that will make major improvements in patient care and outcomes. It provides a healthcare alliance in which the patient is better served through physician and hospital system cooperation and partnership. Emphasis placed on predictive, preventative, and personalized healthcare and advanced diagnostic and therapy management solutions.

Website: www.pvhealthcare.com