Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, November 27, 2020 – IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world's leading provider of proton therapy solutions, will highlight how its Proteus solutions, as well as its collaboration with its partners are shaping the future of proton therapy during the Annual Congress and Exhibition of the European Society for Radiotherapy & Oncology (ESTRO) being held online from November 28th to December 1st, 2020.

With an unrivaled, full dedication to proton therapy as a treatment modality, IBA has developed the largest and most knowledgeable community of proton therapy users over the last 20 years. To date, IBA's 36 clinical partners in operation have treated over 100,000 patients with proton therapy.

Together with its customers as well as industry partners such as Elekta, RaySearch and Philips, IBA is shaping the future of proton therapy by developing the proton therapy systems and dosimetry solutions that will allow the treatment of more patients with increased accuracy.

First, IBA's comprehensive Motion Management package will help clinicians to treat more indications more confidently as demonstrated by UMC Groningen where lung and breast indications currently represent 35% of indications treated in 2020.

Additionally, IBA's unique Proton Arc Therapy1 is developed to enable clinicians to deliver faster, simpler and sharper treatment. "Our initial work on plan comparisons between Proton Arc Therapy and IMPT shows a reduction in the mean dose (Dmean) ranging from 4% to 20% on selected organs at risk, resulting in a 3-4% reduction in Normal Tissue Complication Probability (NTCP)", commented Professor Hans Langendijk from UMC Groningen. "This will most likely increase the number of patients eligible for proton therapy, when applying the model based approach approved in The Netherlands."

Finally, IBA and its clinical partners are committed to bring Flash Therapy1 into the clinic, given its tremendous potential to radically change the radiation therapy landscape and revolutionize cancer care in general. In addition to IBA's yearly investment of over EUR 20 million in particle accelerators, the company received funding in October 2020, from the Walloon region² in Belgium for a research project on FLASH therapy worth EUR 4.4 Million.

IBA is also involved in a scientific consortium as a scientific adviser, a number of EU projects as an external collaborator (not funded), such as UHDpulse (http://uhdpulse-empir.eu/) and as a partner in the INSPIRE project (https://protonsinspire.eu/).

Olivier Legrain, Chief Executive Officer of IBA commented: "Many studies have demonstrated that innovation is best achieved by creating an environment where ideas are shared openly to foster collaboration between partners. This is deeply rooted in IBA's culture and has been consistently proven by our history of leading innovation in proton therapy over the last 20 years. We will continue to share knowledge and expertise with the best experts in the world to make proton therapy available and affordable to all patients who could benefit from it."


About IBA
IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.) is a global medical technology company focused on bringing integrated and innovative solutions for the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The company is the worldwide technology leader in the field of proton therapy, considered to be the most advanced form of radiation therapy available today. IBA's proton therapy solutions are flexible and adaptable, allowing customers to choose from universal full-scale proton therapy centers as well as compact, single room solutions. In addition, IBA has a radiation dosimetry business and develops particle accelerators for the medical world and industry. Headquartered in Belgium and employing about 1,500 people worldwide, IBA has installed systems across the world.

IBA is listed on the pan-European stock exchange NYSE EURONEXT (IBA: Reuters IBAB.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB). More information can be found at www.iba-worldwide.com

1 Arc Therapy and Flash Therapy are currently under research and development phase and will be available for sale when regulatory clearance is received.
2 This program benefited from a financial support of Wallonia in the frame of a program initiated by the BioWin and Mecatech clusters