Mevion Medical Systems Gets Funding from Chinese Investors

Littleton, Mass.-based Mevion Medical Systems, a provider of advanced proton therapy systems, entered into an investment agreement where up to $200 million will be invested in Mevion to accelerate its worldwide expansion.

The investment was led by HOPU Investments, YuanMing Capital, and participated in by other Chinese investors and existing U.S. investors Caxton Alternative Management L.P., ProQuest Investments, Venrock and CHL Medical Partners. Concurrent with the investment, Mevion and the lead investors will form a joint venture in China to produce, sell and service proton therapy systems for the Chinese market. HOPU and YuanMing have experience investing in healthcare companies in China.

The investment will support an increase in Mevion’s manufacturing capacity and global service capability to support the installation of new proton therapy sites in the United States, China and internationally.

“This investment is a clear endorsement of Mevion’s unique leading-edge proton therapy technology. No other system can match the quality, size, cost and efficiency of the Mevion S250, making it a powerful and practical solution for proton centers globally,” said Joseph K. Jachinowski, president and CEO of Mevion Medical Systems. “Mevion has more modular proton therapy systems ordered, installed and treating than all other manufacturers combined. And, the compelling clinical and business results from our operational systems, and the momentum we are building, is powerful evidence that the future is bright, both for Mevion and for the cancer patients who will benefit from having wider access to proton therapy.”

“Proton therapy is an increasingly significant treatment modality for cancer centers around the world, and we see real value in advancing accessibility to this important therapy in China and elsewhere,” said Sunny Li, senior managing director and head of technology investments for HOPU Investments. “We have conducted an extensive industry survey of proton therapy companies. Only one company is commercially proven to have both the best technology and the best economics for healthcare providers and that is Mevion. We wanted to be a part of this success story.”

The first Mevion system, which is installed at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis, Mo., in December 2013, achieved the fastest per-room ramp-up of any proton therapy system in history, treating its first 100 patients in a single room in just 11 months, according to the company. That system was followed by the clinical start of the Ackerman Cancer Center (ACC) in Jacksonville, Florida. The system at ACC beat global patient treatment ramp-up records by reaching a per-room rate of 350 patients per year in less than three months, Mevion officials claim. This treatment rate is comparable to the total number of patients treated each year at costlier four-room legacy systems. And, this spring, Mevion became the first proton therapy manufacturer to open two facilities back-to-back; the system at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., treated its first patient less than four weeks after the first patient was treated at ACC.

The S250 delivers targeted radiation therapy for cancer patients at a fraction of the size and operating costs and with much higher operational efficiency than legacy proton systems, the company claims. Its modular design and smaller footprint—a single-room format occupies only 2,000 square feet—means that a Mevion S250 can be added to existing cancer facilities in even the most densely populated cities with extreme space constraints while installations can be scaled to provide multi-room capabilities at large cancer hospitals, according to the company. Officials also claim that the system uses less than 10 percent of the energy of legacy systems.