Leo Cancer Care Expands Into Asia With a New Base in Singapore
Significant interest in Upright Radiotherapy is enabling strategic global growth for Leo Cancer Care’s mission to help more cancer patients
Leo Cancer Care is taking another huge stride to achieve a long-held goal of bringing its upright treatment delivery system for radiation therapy to more cancer patients worldwide with the announcement that it is expanding into Asia.
The Leo Cancer Care team were joined by the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) in London, UK.
Leo Cancer Care worked with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), to set up its first presence. A Singapore entity will act as a hub for Asia, with an initial focus on sales and servicing.
The business will have an entity and a company representative based in Singapore seeking to build on the growing number of investors, partners and potential customers who have already given their stamp of approval for the revolutionary products.
Leo Cancer Care’s unique upright patient positioning and CT imaging system, named Marie® after Nobel laureate and radioactivity research pioneer Marie Curie, utilizes a fixed radiation beam with slow patient rotation.
The upright position allows patients to remain in a more natural position as they undergo treatment, with growing evidence suggesting less movement of certain organs in patients receiving upright therapy.
The system also has a significantly smaller footprint than existing solutions using gantries, which see patients laid supine when undergoing radiation treatment.
Poised for growth on a global stage
Stephen Towe, CEO, said: “Leo Cancer Care has made huge strides in recent years to bring a paradigm shift in Radiotherapy to the United States and Europe.”
“But when we founded this company our goal has always been to improve the access and quality of care for patients globally. Having a home in Singapore, puts the business firmly on a global stage and poised for growth in the coming years.”
Leo Cancer Care has also received keen interest from an increasing number of Asian visitors at key events it has exhibited at held by ASTRO (American Society for Radian Oncology) and ESTRO (The European Society for Radiotherapy and Oncology) and more recently KOSRO (Korean Society for Radiation Oncology) and JASTRO (Japanese Society for Radiation Oncology).
Backing from world leaders in business
Their hard work has resulted in a number of key investors coming on board including businessman and entrepreneur Liang Xinjun, who was formerly a founder as well as previous Vice Chairman and CEO of conglomerate Fosun International.
Liang Xinjun, who now lives in Singapore where he runs his own fund management company, said: “We are very pleased to learn that Leo Cancer Care will set up an office in Singapore to bring the world’s first vertical, higher precision and resolution proton, heavy ion and photon therapy system to the Asian market.”
He also welcomed the many benefits the technology brings to the treating of cancer patients seated in an upright position including the precision targeting of tumors aiming to deliver improved accuracy and greater reduction in damage to normal surrounding tissue.
With Leo Cancer Care’s equipment taking considerably less space than that of conventional radiotherapy units, Liang Xinjun pointed to the advantages of being able to treat more patients and the increased affordability for hospitals in developing countries and cities in Asia.
“The patient average turnover rate could be increased by one-third,” he said.
“This new system will give Asia’s professional doctors more opportunities to explore the best treatment options. It will strengthen Singapore’s competitiveness as a medical and technology hub in Asia.”
Please note: Leo Cancer Care’s upright patient positioning system recently gained 510(k) regulatory clearance in the United States for clinical use, with a similar process underway in Europe and Asia. Marie, including our upright CT scanner, is not yet clinically available.