Hancock backs Lumitron with USD $50 million investment

Hancock Prospecting has invested USD $50 million in Lumitron, with the right to increase its investment to USD $100 million this year.

The funding is intended to support the commercial scale-up of Lumitron's HyperVIEW platform, which can be used in cancer imaging, radiotherapy, mining analysis and industrial inspection. Hancock will also nominate a representative to Lumitron's board and have two members on a technical review committee, including Dr Glenn Rice and Professor Ian Plimer.

The agreement also gives Hancock the right to bring three systems to Australia. They would be the first three systems of their kind to enter the country.

Healthcare focus

Lumitron is developing imaging systems and very high energy electron beam radiotherapy machines based on laser-Compton physics first developed at Lawrence Livermore National Labouratory. The machines are designed to fit into existing clinical environments rather than requiring large research facilities.

Dr Rice outlined the medical case for the platform in detail.

"Lumitron has developed HyperVIEW(tm), a world-first platform of imaging systems and electron beam radiotherapy machines designed to deliver ultra-high-resolution X-ray imaging and VHEE beam radiotherapy capability within a compact architecture, deployable in existing clinical environments. Lumitron represents the first fundamental change in clinical radiotherapy in 70 years, and the first fundamental change in clinical and industrial X-ray radiography in 130 years," said Dr Glenn Rice, Biophysics and Oncology Drug-Development Expert and Hancock Technical Review Committee Member.

He added that peer-reviewed studies had identified the systems as compact mono-energetic X-ray imaging machines with very high resolution and a lower radiation dose than conventional systems. He also said the US Food and Drug Administration had granted Breakthrough Device Designation to Lumitron's breast cancer imaging technology.

Mrs Gina Rinehart said the investment would support work on a commercial radiotherapy machine using VHEE FLASH treatment.

"In healthcare, HyperVIEW(tm) has been developed for advanced medical imaging and precision radiotherapy applications designed to greatly improve the speed and accuracy of cancer detection and treatment. Hancock Prospecting's investment will support Lumitron to develop its first commercially focused VHEE FLASH radiotherapy machine, a capability that does not currently exist for commercial use," said Gina Rinehart, Executive Chairman, Hancock Prospecting.

Maurie Stang, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Lumitron Technologies, tied the funding directly to that programme.

"We greatly welcome Mrs Rinehart's and Hancock's participation. Hancock's funding will enable Lumitron to produce the first commercially focused VHEE FLASH machine," said Stang.

Mining uses

Beyond healthcare, both companies are emphasising industrial uses for the same underlying technology. In mining, Lumitron says the system could be used to identify mineral composition and contaminant levels in ore, rather than only shape and density, which are the usual limits of conventional industrial X-ray systems.

That could help operators sort higher-value ore before processing and reduce waste sent through plants. Hancock, whose core business is in resources, is entering the investment as both a financial backer and a potential commercial user in that market.

Rinehart described that possible application in operational terms.

"In mining and resources applications, HyperVIEW(tm) is designed to go beyond conventional industrial X-ray systems, which are typically limited to analysing the shape and density of materials. HyperVIEW(tm) has the potential to identify the composition and concentration of minerals and contaminants in ore, allowing mining operators to selectively process higher-value ore, thereby improving recovery rates while potentially reducing energy consumption and overall processing costs," said Rinehart.

Dr Rice also pointed to advanced manufacturing and additive manufacturing as another target market, saying the platform is designed to detect microscopic structural defects in real time for quality assurance and material analysis.

Commercial push

Lumitron holds exclusive commercialisation rights to the core intellectual property behind HyperVIEW across more than 14 patent families. Dr Chris Barty, Co-Founder, Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer of Lumitron Technologies, said the company had spent nearly a decade building its hardware and manufacturing base.

"We have developed unique laser and accelerator hardware capable of delivering world-leading X-ray and electron beam performance from a compact platform architecture," said Dr Chris Barty, Co-Founder, Executive Director and Chief Technology Officer, Lumitron Technologies.

He added: "These are capabilities that have historically not been commercially available in deployable systems and have the potential to impact medicine, industry and scientific research."

Lumitron is already engaged with US research and government organisations including the United States Department of Energy and DARPA, as well as academic and clinical groups including the University of California, Irvine and Australia's I-MED Radiology Network.

Stang described the investment as part of a broader move from development to market launch.

"This investment represents a significant step for Lumitron as Hancock Prospecting joins our sophisticated investor base supporting the company's transition from advanced development into commercial scale-up. Hancock Prospecting is one of the world's leading private mining and investment companies, with a long history of backing large-scale, globally significant projects, and its chairman, Gina Rinehart, has a long-term interest in helping patients suffering from cancer, so we are extremely pleased to have Mrs Rinehart and her private company on board as a strategic investor, with a board member and two additions to our technical committee. We believe HyperVIEW(tm) represents one of the most significant advances in commercial X-ray and radiotherapy technology in more than a century, providing a new generation of imaging and therapy platforms. Capabilities traditionally associated with large-scale research infrastructure are now being developed in a platform designed for broader clinical and industrial deployment. We see substantial long-term opportunities across healthcare, mining and advanced manufacturing applications as demand increases for more precise imaging, treatment, analysis and assay capability," said Stang.

Professor Ian Plimer, who is also joining the technical review committee, linked the investment to a wider rollout in Australia.

"This investment will support and ensure the future rollout of advanced imaging and radiotherapy capability across Australia," said Plimer.