New Investment Opportunity: HIL Medical
Breakthrough technology makes precision proton cancer therapy more accessible
- Ultra-compact, high-performance laser will boost access to treatment for 70% of cancer inductions treated with protons; can benefit over 2 million new patients annually
- New business model will raise ARR, improve production economics, increase patient access beyond large hospitals
- Strategic partnerships with Proton International, Thales, IBA
- Awarded grant from competitive EU Horizon program; US/Israel BIRD Foundation funding for US proton therapy centers; R&D collaboration with CERN in Geneva
- Pre-revenue; company forecasts it will be cash positive in 2025
- Turnaround strategy spearheaded by new CEO, new board chairman
- Up to $1.25M SAFE with $25M cap, 20% discount, 2X liquidation preference
BOOK A CALL
with your Investor Relations representative
Dear Josb,
Traditional high-energy radiotherapy treatment for cancers requires huge, expensive installations that can cause severe side effects and damage healthy cells. Proton therapy is a more advanced, focused, and precise form of radiotherapy. However, the widespread adoption of this safer modality has been limited by the enormous size and exceedingly high cost of its systems.
OurCrowd is investing in HIL Applied Medical, an Israeli company developing ultra-compact, high-performance systems for cancer proton therapy that can benefit over two million patients worldwide annually. The details in this email are based on information received from, and verified solely by, the company.
The Problem
Because proton therapy systems were traditionally based on massive, complex particle accelerators and magnets, they required an enormous infrastructure to house the equipment, making treatment centers prohibitively large and expensive. A multi-room treatment center could be as large as a football field, and four to five stories tall, with upfront setup costs of as much as $250M. Recent single-room systems have a footprint of a tennis court, four to five stories tall. With upfront setup costs of $20M-$30M, they are still far too expensive and large for widespread adoption.
The Solution
HIL Applied Medical has developed a system of high proton energy acceleration by a high-intensity laser that enables treatment of over 70% of cancer inductions treated with protons. The HIL system is 100X lighter, has 50% of the footprint, and occupies 25% of the volume compared to any other. The company also offers a complete treatment room, including the infrastructure, equipment, and software, at the cost of $8.1M-$14M (single vs double room), while its competitors' systems cost between $30M-$60M. The company is also introducing a new double-room system in which one proton accelerator will generate radiation for two different rooms for simultaneous treatments.
HIL's game-changing approach employs proprietary particle acceleration and high-intensity laser technology, making it more accessible to smaller clinics. For patients and physicians, the workflow and results are same as larger systems.
Company Turnaround
The company is pivoting to a new business model and revised technology led by a new CEO and Chairman. The company has replaced its custom-made laser with smaller, off-the-shelf components. The new system will be easier to develop, less expensive, and will remove HIL's dependency on a single laser developer.
The company has a new go-to-market strategy to make it easier for smaller clinics to finance the system using a recurring revenue business model. The customer pays a one-time setup cost, annual maintenance, and a fee per treatment.
A new double-room offering will enable clinics to treat two patients simultaneously in adjoining rooms using a single HIL system.
HIL Medical is pre-revenue. The company forecasts it will be cash positive in 2025.
Strategic Partners
HIL has signed strategic partnership agreements with major multinationals, including a co-commercialization agreement with Proton International, the largest integrator and operator of proton therapy facilities in the US and Europe; a strategic technological partnership with Thales, a global leader in laser production; and a long-term co-commercialization agreement with IBA, which has a 45% share of the global proton therapy market.
Scientific Validation
HIL's breakthrough technology received a grant from the EU's Horizon program, the most extensive and most competitive research and innovation program in Europe; funding from the US/Israel BIRD Foundation for the building of US proton therapy centers; and an agreement for R&D collaboration with the world's largest particle accelerator facility CERN in Geneva, Switzerland.
The Traction
The company has letters of intent from leading US hospitals, including Thomas Jefferson, LifeSpan, Brown University Medical School, and major Israeli hospitals, Assuta and Ichilov, to become beta customers.
The Market
The global proton therapy market was valued at $1.2B in 2018 and is expected to reach $3.3B by 2025, at a CAGR of 15%.
The Team
Roee Nagler, the newly appointed CEO, has over 25 years' experience in management, leading large-scale technology and infrastructure projects with particular experience in complex technological efforts. He was previously the company's CTO. Lior Buchman, Board Chairman, was previously CFO at international life sciences companies and has extensive experience in senior corporate financing, M&A, operational and business development.
Aryeh Ziegler, the company's founder, is an emeritus professor of physics at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and leads the HIL research team which consists of world-renowned research physicists in laser, plasma, and proton acceleration.
The Round
This up to $1.25M SAFE with a $25M cap, 20% discount and 2X liquidation preference, will extend the company's runway and allow it to formulate its next priced round in the first half of 2023. The round will be used primarily for construction and lab equipment for the company's new R&D and manufacturing facility in Israel and is expected to take the company to breakeven in 2025.
Meet the CEO
We're hosting a webinar/conference call on Sunday, August 21st, at 7PM Israel / 12 Noon New York / 9AM San Francisco for investors to meet CEO Roee Nagler and learn more about HIL Medical.
The HIL Medical Solution
HIL brings 21st-century technology to a field of medical treatment that has evolved significantly since the 1940s, but where the existing technology is still quite primitive. HIL's approach is revolutionary with game changing innovation. HIL applies a patented approach to particle acceleration and beam delivery, combining technology developed by Nobel Prize Laureates Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland (Physics 2018) of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) high-intensity lasers with nanotechnology and advanced magnetics.
Mourou and Strickland developed the CPA technique which generates laser pulses with peak power of hundreds of Terawatts (1TW=1012 watt). HIL's technology is based on the application of such high-power laser pulses to a nano-metric target. The interaction of the laser pulse with the targets accelerates protons which can be used, among other things, for cancer radiotherapy.
The final product works much the same way as any current PT system available in the market both from the physician's workflow point of view and the patient's treatment experience. However, the core technology makes HIL's system dramatically more compact and less expensive and thus more accessible to medical institutions and cancer patients.
Next steps:
0 Comments