Israeli Startup P-Cure Partners with MD Anderson for Advanced Cancer Therapy
Israeli startup P-Cure has partnered with MD Anderson Cancer Center to develop a compact system delivering both proton and helium ion cancer treatments. The collaboration aims to expand particle therapy access across North America.
Israeli startup P-Cure has announced a strategic partnership with the MD Anderson Cancer Center at the University of Texas to develop an advanced, compact cancer treatment system combining proton and helium ion therapies.
Under the agreement, the two institutions will build a system capable of delivering both proton and helium ion treatments from a single platform. The collaboration pairs MD Anderson's expertise in radiation oncology with P-Cure's FDA-cleared compact proton therapy technology. The initial phase will assess the clinical utility and operational benefits of P-Cure's current system, followed by preclinical and clinical studies evaluating helium ion therapy.
Advantages of Helium Ion Therapy
Proton therapy is recognized as an advanced method in oncological radiation, allowing clinicians to target tumors precisely while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. Helium ions offer additional potential advantages, including lower lateral scattering of radiation and enhanced biological effectiveness. The joint research aims to determine whether these benefits translate into improved patient outcomes.
Traditional particle therapy systems require massive infrastructure and high capital investments, restricting their availability to a select few medical centers. P-Cure's platform is distinguished by its compact structure and vertical treatment technology, which significantly reduce the physical footprint, costs, and infrastructure complexity. Currently, the only center worldwide offering helium ion treatments is located in Heidelberg, Germany, operating within an exceptionally large facility. If successful, P-Cure's development would introduce the first system of this kind to North America.
In Israel, Hadassah Medical Center became the first institution in the country to offer proton treatments to cancer patients in 2023, sparing patients from traveling abroad for weeks of treatments costing over $100,000. Since its introduction, nearly 200 patients have been treated using P-Cure's system, including over 30 children. P-Cure employs 100 workers, half of them in Israel. P-Cure CEO Michael Marash stated that the company aims to establish clinical evidence for helium treatment efficacy and create a practical pathway to make the technology accessible to a larger number of patients.
