IBA LAUNCHES THE ConformalFLASH® ALLIANCE

The ConformalFLASH® Alliance will be the first collaboration platform between academia and industry to bring ConformalFLASH® proton therapy to the clinic 

Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, June 30, 2022 - IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A., EURONEXT), the world leader in particle accelerator technology, announces today the launch of the ConformalFLASH®¹ Alliance, which aims to accelerate the delivery of ConformalFLASH® Proton Therapy to patients. 

ConformalFLASH® is a novel delivery technique combining ultra-high dose rate FLASH radiotherapy with the unique Bragg Peak properties of protons. These ultra-high dose rates create the opportunity to optimize and accelerate the radiotherapy process and increase the therapeutic ratio.²  

The ConformalFLASH® Alliance brings together academic and industry expertise to foster a joint understanding of the fundamentals of FLASH Therapy and how to combine it with the unique properties of the Proton Bragg Peak. The objective is to enable the delivery of treatments with reduced side effects to patients and increased patient comfort through a reduced treatment course.

Swati Girdhani, Director of Research Collaborations at IBA, said: “In the last few years IBA has been working closely with its customers, leading researchers in FLASH Radiotherapy, and industry partners such as IBA Dosimetry and RaySearch to develop ConformalFLASH® and to gain a better understanding of how it could be used in the clinic. With the ConformalFLASH® Alliance, we have created a space to share ideas, deepen insights and ultimately accelerate the translation of this technology into the clinic."

Prof. James M. Metz, MD, Henry K. Pancoast Professor of Radiation Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania, said “Building on our research of FLASH Proton Therapy, we look forward to deepening our national and international collaborations and advancing knowledge of this technology as a potential treatment option.”

Prof. Dr. Stefan Both, Head of Medical Physics at UMC Groningen, said: “In March 2022, we announced a partnership with IBA to leverage the combined strength of the Particle Therapy Research Center (PARTREC) and Groningen Proton Therapy Center (GPTC) to embark on this long-term collaboration with IBA to study FLASH Therapy for breast cancer. With the ConformalFLASH® Alliance, we can go one step further in collaborating with other major academic centers across the world, and hope to accelerate the translation of FLASH to the clinic.” 

Erik Traneus, Head of Sales Particle Therapy and Senior Researcher at Raysearch added: “We are delighted to support the development of ConformalFLASH® treatment modality and participate to the launch of the ConformalFLASH Alliance. RayStation today can be equipped with specific research modules that will help answer the big research questions that the Alliance will be addressing."

¹ConformalFLASH® is a registered brand of IBA’s Proton FLASH irradiation solution currently under research and development phase.
² J. Bourhis, P. Montay-Gruel, P. Gonçalves Jorge et al., Clinical translation of FLASH Radiotherapy: Why and how?, Radiotherapy and Oncology