Since 2007, Stephen Spotts has been the CEO of ProTom International, one of a handful of companies competing in the emerging proton therapy market.

On May 12 of this year his company filed for bankruptcy, a move Spotts describes as "heartbreaking" - but new investors came along and now he believes the future looks brighter than ever for ProTom. DOTmed HCB News got on the phone with him to recount his company's frenetic summer and discuss the forecast going forward.

"A new company was founded and purchased the assets of the original company, and that transaction was completed by the end of August, so the new investors committed substantial equity for the new company to essentially pick up operations under a new entity," summarized Spotts. Since then, the new company, ProTom International Holding Company, has been hard at work picking up where it left off and dusting off partnerships that had been frozen by bankruptcy.

Most notably, the company has resumed  the installation of its Radiance 330 proton system at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in the middle of downtown Boston. That meant contacting sub-component vendors and parts suppliers from around the world to let them know the company was back in action, wiring them money they were owed, and figuring out when they would be able to ship parts, said Spotts.

After about two weeks, the company had completely reimbursed key vendors and parts suppliers. "It would have been sooner," added Spotts, "but the logistics of wiring money around the world can slow that process down."

The project at MGH is not only unique because it's underway in an active clinical setting located in a metropolitan area, but also because MGH already has a proton therapy facility. A three-room ProteusPLUS from IBA was installed in 2001 at the MGH Francis H. Burr Proton Center, making this the first time a single institution has provided proton therapy on systems manufactured by different vendors.

 Despite that, the two systems are completely separate and will be housed in different buildings. According to Spotts, there will be very little overlap in terms of clinical staff assigned to one or the other, and the Radiance 330 will be dedicated specifically to clinical utilization (not research).

"By the end of the month virtually all the remaining major components will either be there or en route," said Spotts, adding that although the bankruptcy significantly stifled that process, getting back to full bore has been a smoother process than expected.

The Radiance 330 technology

One of the main things that distinguishes the Radiance 330 from proton therapy systems already on the market is its size, said Spotts. He expects his company to succeed because of the ProTom philosophy that proton therapy should be an extension of radiation oncology — not something separate and exotic.

"We've always believed that proton therapy should be a part of the cancer services of major providers," said Spotts. "We are sending a strong signal to the industry that you can add proton therapy into many — not all — but many existing cancer service providers in an affordable way.

He credits much of the savings to the design of the particle accelerator the Radiance 330 depends on, which is called a synchrotron. It requires less shielding and is many times lighter than most of the 200-plus-ton accelerators, called cyclotrons, that most proton systems depend on.

The system has a treatment energy range of 70-250 MeV and a capacity of 330 MeV, and the company says it is the only proton beam system with the accelerating capability required for the future of imaging the patient with the beam itself. Adaptive therapy, in which the treatments can be modified throughout the therapy for better targeting, is another benefit Spotts and his colleagues point to when describing the Radiance 330.

The MGH install will be the second one for ProTom. Their first Radiance 330 was installed at the McLaren Proton Therapy Center in Flint, Michigan — a system the company is currently in the process of breaking ties with as part of the bankruptcy filings. "We believe McLaren will be doing modifications to the design — which they can do and have the right to do once that is finalized," said Spotts.

"We are healthier financially than we've ever been," said Spotts. "If there's anything good about a Chapter 11 process it's that it allows the company to get a clean slate, and now we're letting people know that it is safer and easier for them to do business with us than ever before."