Belgian company signs multimillion-dollar contract to install, maintain system for CT Proton Therapy Center

RENDERING | CONTRIBUTED A rendering of the Connecticut Proton Therapy Center planned for 932 Northrop Road in Wallingford.

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By David Krechevsky

Ion Beam Applications S.A. (IBA), a Belgium-based manufacturer of particle accelerator technology, said Thursday it has signed a contract with the Connecticut Proton Therapy Center to install a proton therapy system.

The $75 million center is a collaboration between Yale New Haven Health, Hartford Healthcare and Proton International, and is under construction in Wallingford.

The center, which received final approval from the state in April 2022, will provide an advanced form of cancer radiation treatment. There are just over 40 proton therapy centers in the U.S., but none in Connecticut. The closest centers are in New York and Massachusetts.

According to an announcement, the contract with IBA includes installing a ProteusONE compact proton therapy system and a multiyear agreement to operate and maintain the system.

The typical price for a ProteusONE system with a multi-year maintenance contract ranges between $40 million and $50 million, IBA said.

Once the center opens, proton therapy treatments will be provided by physicians affiliated with the Yale School of Medicine, Yale New Haven Smilow Cancer Hospital, and Yale Cancer Center, which is a National Cancer Institute-designated (NCI) Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute.

Dr. Peter Glazer, chief of radiation oncology at Yale New Haven Hospital and chairman of therapeutic radiology at the Yale School of Medicine, praised the contract.

“We are pleased to have secured IBA as the technology leader to move forward with our proton therapy initiative, completing our panel of comprehensive cancer care,” Glazer said. “Our oncology experts are excited to provide this life-changing treatment to our patients.”

The center is expected to start treating patients in the spring of 2026.