New Facility enables Scaling of Radiotherapy Technologies

Support for the medical device industry has been increased at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s (STFC) Liverpool region-based Daresbury Laboratory, through expanded capacity for testing new radiotherapy technologies.

Varian Medical Systems, which has had access to Daresbury’s radiation-protected environment and highly skilled technicians for the past two years, will use the new bespoke facility to potentially more than triple the testing and manufacturing capacity of its advanced linear accelerator technology, which allows delivery of highly targeted doses of radiation to treat a range of cancers including lung, prostate, breast, brain, spine, liver, pancreas, bone and many others.

This collaborative expansion project led to the creation of five new jobs on-site as well as new jobs at Varian’s Crawley location.

Paul Vernon, Head of STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, said: “Daresbury Laboratory has pioneered particle accelerators throughout its 60 year history.  These systems are highly complex but are proving to be essential technology for the development of new generation radiotherapy systems for treating cancer. I am thrilled that, in collaboration with Varian, our on-site team here at Daresbury has the expertise and experience to design and build this vital safe testing facility to meet Varian’s requirements. Furthermore, this was all completed to a very tight timescale under the pressure of Covid-19 restrictions. This has been a tremendous effort by our team and is a great opportunity to support industry through access to our world class science and facilities which, in turn will benefit our economy and the health and wellbeing of our society.”

Andy Partridge, Vice President APAC EMEA Manufacturing at Varian said:  “By working with STFC’s Daresbury Laboratory, Varian will now produce and test many more HalcyonTM radiotherapy systems within the UK. This work leads to increased productivity, the creation of new jobs and supporting the development of cancer treatment. Our ground-breaking Halcyon system combines fast and high-quality treatments with comfort and convenience, all of which come together to optimise the patient experience in the fight against cancer. This collaboration is a fantastic platform for joint innovation and is already helping us to accelerate the development of new products and solutions for our customers.”