Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO) has told investors it is making good progress with the development of its first LIGHT proton therapy system.
Multiple components of the treatment room at the AIM-quoted firm’s Harley Street facility have been manufactured, inspected and tested by AVO’s partner P-Cure Ltd.
Once all of the parts have been manufactured, they’ll be integrated to form a complete patient treatment system.
The patient positioning system – which includes the treatment chair and robotic arm which moves the chair and patient – is complete.
There are still some subsystems of the PPS, such as imaging and treatment management software, awaiting completion but they’re on track to be developed by the end of this year.
On top of that, AVO has also taken delivery of the LIGHT system’s ionisation chamber at its testing facility over in Geneva.
The chamber is a “critical element” of the overall safety system as it monitors beam position, spot size and dosage.
Speaking of the beam, earlier this year the proton beam was fired through the radio frequency quadrupole (RFQ) at its maximum expected energy. The job of the RFQ is to accelerate and focus the beam of charged particles.
Much of the work over the past few months has concentrated on enhancing the proton source that feeds the RFQ, Advanced Onco said.
“As I outlined in my update to shareholders in March, the company remains focused on delivering the technical development of our first LIGHT machine and its ultimate installation at Harley Street, and I am very pleased with the progress we are making,” said chief executive Nicolas Serandour.
“We will continue to update the market with newsflow on the integration of the LIGHT system's components, with developments on the CCL units, addition of the SCDTLs to the RFQ and on the Patient Positioning System anticipated in the coming weeks and months.”
Shares ticked 1.5% higher in early deals on Monday to 15.98p.
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