Advanced Oncotherapy (AIM: AVO) has said this morni9gn to DirectorsTalk that the second Coupled Cavity Linac unit has been manufactured and delivered to the Company’s testing facility in Geneva.
The CCL accelerating structures are an essential part of the LIGHT proton therapy system. They consist of a series of cells which accelerate the protons from energies of 37.5 Mega-electron Volts (“MeV”) to the high energies required to treat radiosensitive tumours in a clinical setting. The finished LIGHT system will incorporate ten CCL units in total.
In addition, the first two Radio Frequency (“RF”) power Units, both the Modulator from Scandinova and the Klystron from Toshiba, have been delivered on schedule to Geneva following initial successful testing and will be used in the next few weeks to start CCL high-power testing, in-line with the timetable provided by the Company to shareholders in November 2014.
As well as this, the Company announces that Howard de Walden Estates Limited, which in January 2015 granted a 50 year lease to the Company for the Harley Street site, has agreed to expand the agreement beyond the 8,000 sq ft space agreed in the original lease. This would allow the Company to develop a Proton Therapy Centre on the same site but with an extended footprint, offering potential operators a larger overall facility to manage. The additional planning permission and reconfiguration of the original site plans will have an impact on the start date for work on the site, however the Company remains on schedule in its technology development to have its first LIGHT system ready for patient treatment in 2017.
Commenting, Sanjeev Pandya, CEO of Advanced Oncotherapy, said: “This latest update shows that we continue to remain on target for the successful delivery of our first LIGHT system in-line with the timetable that we outlined to investors. We do have the opportunity to extend the footprint of our site in Harley Street, which could allow us to develop a bigger and better Proton Therapy Centre in Central London, and I look forward to updating shareholders as this progresses. Our focus still remains on the end-goal of having our technology ready for first patient treatment in 2017.”
