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Advanced Oncotherapy signs lease for new UK testing and assembly site

Published: 07:29 08 May 2018 BST

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The company will also maintain its testing facility at CERN in Geneva

Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO) has signed a lease with the UK Government’s Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) to establish a testing and assembly site for its LIGHT proton accelerator at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory in Cheshire.

The AIM-listed company, a developer of proton therapy systems for cancer treatment, said the facility will become the testing and assembly site for its first fully operational LIGHT system, with building work currently underway to prepare the site to receive components from June 2018.

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The site will then be used to assemble the first LIGHT system capable of accelerating protons to the full 230 MeV required for effective proton therapy treatment of deep seated tumours.

The group added that the site will be used to complete the verification and validation of the LIGHT system ahead of its submission for regulatory approval, before it is relocated and installed at the first commercial site in Harley Street, with first patient treatment targeted for the second half of 2020.

AVO said the agreement with STFC provides access to an established and certified facility supported by a strong reputation for the research, development and operation of future particle accelerators, with the use of a high-tech site providing advantages in both cost and timescale, but also additional risk diversification with a production facility option.

The Daresbury laboratory is also home to the Accelerator Science and Technology Centre (ASTeC) and Cockcroft Institute of Accelerator Science and Technology, with STFC acting as a partner in the installation and upgrading of the Large Hadron Collider at CERN in Geneva.

The company added that it was also aiming to further streamline the LIGHT system production process, with discussions ongoing assess options for a future collaboration between AVO and Thales on the industrialisation of the machine and supply chain strategy, with the opportunity to scale up the manufacturing infrastructure through the set-up of additional production sites.

AVO also said it would maintain its testing facility at CERN where it continues to advance the development of its LIGHT system.

Chief executive of Advanced Oncotherapy, Nicolas Serandour, said: "Our agreement with the Science and Technology Facilities Council is an important step towards the construction of our first fully operational LIGHT system, to be constructed within the UK's accelerator research and innovation hub. Having a facility with established infrastructure, a certified site and a huge wealth of shared knowledge in the area of accelerators allows us to quickly move forward the construction of the first commercial LIGHT system in a cost-effective way.

He added: "Our Geneva testing facility will see the acceleration of protons to energies capable of treating superficial tumours by the end of Q3 this year and, using the detailed results from that process, we will construct our first fully operational system at the STFC Daresbury Laboratory.”

In mid-morning trading Tuesday, Advanced Oncotherapy shares were up 0.9% at 52.5p.

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