Highland cancer technology team reaches construction milestone
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ENGINEERS aspiring to set up Scotland’s first manufacturing base for the world’s most advanced cancer-treating radiotherapy devices in Inverness or Moray say they have reached a milestone by completing the first section of their next-generation machine.
Lead designer Steve Hunt said the accomplishment has taken his small north firm called Alceli one step closer to creating ground-breaking technology, which he believes will transform cancer care for patients, particularly children, across Scotland.
Proton Beam Therapy kills tumours without damaging surrounding tissue.
It hit the headlines in 2014 when the parents of five-year-old Ashya King took him out of Southampton Hospital against doctors’ wishes and whisked him to Prague for the treatment which wiped out his tumour.
The Alceli team's equipment is being developed as a more efficient version of the 90-tonne advanced proton beam therapy machines which are being installed at NHS hospitals in Manchester and London as part of a £250 million UK Government investment to treat cancer.
Mr Hunt said: “The facility in Manchester is costing £100 million, the one in London £150 million. They both have multiple rooms and can treat up to 1500 patients per year. The cost per patient will be almost £50,000, which is much lower than the £110,000 it costs the NHS to send patients for treatment to the US at the moment. By comparison, our machines will be able to treat 500 patients per year at a cost of less than £5000 per patient."
Alceli's machines will initially be built for export in small components which can easily be shipped, but the firm said it is committed to making a device available to treat people from Inverness or type in your place and all over the Highlands at Raigmore Hospital or another location, if it can be commissioned.
The firm is in negotiations with its first potential customer in the Middle East and hopes to clinch a deal early in the New Year.
Mr Hunt said: "This customer is in the market for a proton therapy machine and they are keen to work with us because they want the best and the latest, safe, green technology that doesn’t have issues with high levels of radiation.”
Gerry MacNeil, Alceli's business development executive, said: “There are only approximately 70 proton therapy facilities operating in the world and at present patients from the UK have to travel abroad for treatment. The first facility in the UK, at the Christie Hospital in Manchester is due to start operating very soon. There are another five facilities being built in the UK, one in Wales, and another four in England.
"Our design will complement the large facility in Manchester because our innovative design can provide treatment at a tenth of the cost of existing options. This means more machines can be made available, allowing patients to be treated closer to home."
Alceli’s laboratory is based at the Alexander Graham Bell Centre in Elgin. However, if the company meets its ambitious expansion goals a larger base will be needed which could be anywhere in the Highlands.
Derek Duncan, Moray College’s information director, said Alceli’s work “opens up new possibilities for collaborative research and closer working across the college curriculum”.
Moray College science lecturer Sylwia Kaniowska said her students were impressed by the significantly low radiation levels which emanated from the Alceli team’s machine.
Craig Robertson, head of Business Gateway in Elgin, said: “The digital technologies sector is expanding and is a key contributor to the economic growth and global competitiveness of every sector in Scotland. This growth is creating job opportunities for skilled workers, and young people.
“We hope that having Alceli based here in Moray will have a significant impact on the Life Sciences Sector and encourage others to consider Moray as a place to do business.”
Moray edition extra quotes: Jamie Green, Alceli's chief operating officer, said: “We are now ready to move to production, and are now discussing funding with potential investors so we can build our factory, which we hope will be in Moray.
"We have forged very close links with Moray college, with whom we are working to make sure the right courses are available in STEM subjects at a high level to train our future workforce."
