Belgian cyclotron-maker Ion Beam Applications S.A. said Monday that it inked a deal with Apollo Hospitals, Asia's largest integrated health care group and India's foremost private hospital, to bring the very first proton therapy center in India.
"We are very excited to be making proton therapy available for the first time in India," said Olivier Legrain, CEO of IBA, in an official statement. "The Indian health care market is growing rapidly and there is a significant need for innovative approaches to cancer therapy."
The proton therapy center, which is expected to begin treating patients in 2016, will include three treatment rooms. IBA will provide the proton therapy technology, which will include a more advanced and precise delivery of the proton known as proton pencil beam scanning. The company will also equip the center with all dosimetry equipment.
Proton therapy requires large magnets, gantries and a 200-ton cyclotron — an investment that can exceed $100 million, but which many are willing to fork over for a technology that has the capability to zap tumors more directly, precisely and with fewer side effects to the patients.
Dr. Prathap Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals Group, said in the statement: "This new proton therapy facility will give patients access to the most advanced radiation therapy technology. Moreover, the center will become an International Proton Therapy Center of Reference in Asia, allowing to further enhance our ability to provide superior cancer care and promote the benefits of proton therapy technology across the sub-continent."
