Sales of Advanced Oncotherapy’s (AVO:AIM) cancer-killing proton beam machines are gaining momentum as shares rise 5.6% to 7.1p on confirmation of one sale and four others in the pipeline.
It has agreed to sell one of its LIGHT machines to the China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, one of the largest hospitals in northeast China housing 3,300 beds. The deal is worth between $75 million and $80 million, depending on the fit-out of the five treatment rooms that the machine will be at the heart of.
This is the second machine Advanced Oncotherapy has sold and is the result of a partnership with hospital investor and manager Sinophi Healthcare. The first was a $40 million deal earlier in the year (25 Mar).
The £100.1 million cap has received interest from four other Sinophi hospitals to use the LIGHT system.
China is a particular focus for the London-based company claiming that more than 20% of the world’s new cancer cases are diagnosed on the country.
Proton machines can weigh hundreds of tonnes and needs to be surrounded by lead-lined walls. The use of proton technology was at the centre of the Ashya King case, when the five-year-old’s parents took him from hospital in 2014 and travelled to the Czech Republic to treat his brain tumour.
