The FDA has given Israeli company P-Cure the nod for its Adaptive Proton Therapy Solution, the first for treating patients while seated, and one that can be installed in virtually any radiotherapy linac room, reducing the size and cost of proton therapy set ups.

The 360-degree system treats patients sitting to reduce organ motion and adapt treatment plans better, using pencil beam scanning to deliver doses to all anatomical sites and an image-guided positioning system to align the beam in front of the tumor.

The compact accelerator and lack of rotating gantries saves providers more than $50 million in construction and equipment costs for a single room and speeds up installations.

“The possibility to install proton therapy within existing linac treatment rooms opens up a unique marketing opportunity for P-Cure,” said P-Cure CEO Michael Marash in a statement. "This radiotherapy replacement market accounts for sales of approximately 1,000 radiation therapy modalities every year."

The company is also beginning clinical research that will allow Israeli patients to be treated in their own country for the first time with proton therapy. Hadassah Medical Center, located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, is carrying out the research.

Last year, P-Cure set up a production facility in Weifang, Shandong Province, China, which has nine assembly lines to manufacture tens of systems annually, and operates in conjunction with its Israeli facility.

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