ProCure Secures Financing for IBA Proton Therapy Center in Oklahoma City

Business Wire, April 25, 2007

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- Financing has been secured for construction of a $95 million proton therapy center in Oklahoma City being developed by ProCure Treatment Centers and its clinical partners, Radiation Medicine Associates and Radiation Oncology Associates, two leading radiation oncology practices in the region. The 55,000-square-foot facility will include installation of an advanced proton therapy system from IBA (Ion Beam Applications S.A.: Reuters IOBAt.BR and Bloomberg IBAB.BB) valued at $50 million.

Senior debt and mezzanine financing was obtained through IBA and ProCure's collaboration with two world-class financial institutions, Fortis and KBC (Belgium).

The Oklahoma ProCure Treatment Center will be the first owned by ProCure, and the first-ever proton therapy cancer treatment center in the United States to be owned and operated by physicians. It will house four patient treatment rooms, including two inclined-beam rooms, one fixed-horizontal-beam room and a 360-degree gantry room. The first cancer patient is expected to be treated at the ProCure proton therapy center in the summer of 2009.

"There are no radiation cancer treatments in the world today as precise and effective as proton therapy," said Hadley Ford, chief executive officer of ProCure, which is based in Bloomington, Ind. "Financing our OKC facility ensures we can provide a world-class cancer treatment facility for the people of Oklahoma City and utilize world-class therapeutic equipment from IBA. Having completed installation of more than half of the proton therapy systems in the world, IBA was the partner of choice to consider in such a critical venture."

"IBA is excited about bringing the incredible cancer-fighting benefits of proton therapy to the people of Oklahoma," said Pierre Mottet, IBA's chief executive officer. "The ProCure facility will place it among a select group of institutions at the vanguard of cancer treatment."

ProCure and IBA will oversee construction of the TK&A-designed facility, including installation of IBA's proton therapy equipment. The project will have little financial impact on IBA's performance in 2007. It should essentially affect fiscal years 2008 and 2009.

Proton therapy is the latest advancement in cancer treatment that uses a beam of protons to accurately target and kill cancer tumors, while leaving surrounding tissue healthy and unharmed, and significantly reducing treatment side effects.

Proton therapy is favored for treating certain kinds of tumors where conventional X-ray and radiation oncology would damage surrounding tissues at an unacceptable level. This is especially a problem around optical nerves, the spinal cord/central nervous system, head and neck areas, and the prostate. This also is particularly important for pediatric patients where long-term side effects are of great concern.

IBA helped develop the 98,000-square-foot University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute in Jacksonville, Fla., which opened in August 2006. The $125 million facility is part of the University of Florida Shands Cancer Center and includes three of IBA's gantry-housed proton therapy units and one-fixed beam unit. A massive 90-ton rotational machine, the proton therapy gantry delivers a prescribed dose of protons at precise angles in the body to maximize tumor kill and minimize side effects for the patient.

IBA is currently overseeing construction of the 75,000-square-foot Robert Proton Therapy Center at the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The $144 million project includes IBA's proton-generating cyclotron and proton beam equipment for four gantry-based patient treatment rooms and one fixed-beam patient room.

IBA is the undisputed world market leader in proton therapy, with over 50 percent market share. Twelve institutions in the United States, Asia and Europe have already selected a proton therapy system from IBA. The IBA Particle Therapy product line ranges from small, one-room compact systems to top-of-the-line carbon configurations. IBA is the only company that has regulatory clearances, including FDA clearance to market cyclotron-based particle therapy systems.

ABOUT IBA

IBA delivers solutions of a unique precision in the fields of cancer diagnosis and therapy. The company also offers sterilization and ionization solutions to improve the hygiene and safety of everyday life. IBA is listed on the pan-European stock exchange EURONEXT, is integrated into the NextEconomy market segment and belongs to the BelMid index. IBA world headquarters is located in Brussels. IBA Americas' headquarters is based in Jacksonville, Fla.

Website: http://www.iba-worldwide.com.