MADISON, Wis.--()--TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) announced today that Addenbrooke’s Hospital of Cambridge, England, will install their second TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® radiation therapy system in 2009. During 2007, Addenbrooke’s was selected to be the first National Health Service (NHS) hospital in England to treat cancer patients with TomoTherapy’s unique, CT platform-based radiation therapy solution. The hospital competed against several prestigious hospitals in a bid to win a centralised, Government-funded Hi·Art treatment system for evaluation of the technology over a three-year period with the goal of advising on whether the new approach would have a future key role in the medical provision of radiation therapy in the UK’s publicly-funded NHS.
“We look forward to partnering with Addenbrooke’s to broaden their radiotherapy reach in 2009.”
The first patient was treated with TomoTherapy technology at Addenbrooke’s on Oct. 31, 2007. After only six months, Addenbrooke’s decided that they needed a second Hi·Art treatment system, mainly due to the quality of treatment they could then offer to more cancer patients.
Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is locally funding the second machine. This prestigious procurement is the first order to be made under the new National Framework Agreement for Radiotherapy Equipment through NHS Supply Chain, an organization created for the benefit of NHS trusts, hospitals and other healthcare organizations.
Dr Neil Burnet, Lead Clinical Oncologist for the TomoTherapy project at Addenbrooke’s comments: “The TomoTherapy project here has been an enormous success, particularly due to the team that we have been able to establish. TomoTherapy has proved a highly efficient solution for daily image-guided radiotherapy with positional correction, and the delivery of sophisticated treatment plans using high quality, intensity-modulated radiotherapy. . . We are delighted that we will soon double our capacity so that these technologies can be offered to more patients.”
TomoTherapy technology is developed and manufactured by TomoTherapy Inc. and is supplied in the UK by Oncology Systems Limited based in Shrewsbury, England.
Says Julie Mead, Clinical Advisor and Director at Oncology Systems: “This is the strongest commendation of TomoTherapy technology possible. Creating a clinical-business case for new, ‘high end’ equipment in the NHS, without any financial reimbursement, is always a challenge. The fact that Addenbrooke’s so quickly decided to install their second TomoTherapy unit, and from local funding, is a testament to their belief in this technology, which not only offers the highest quality of treatment for significant cohorts of patients, but also a very cost-effective way of introducing advanced image guided and intensity modulated radiotherapy.”
“We are very pleased that, after an objective clinical evaluation of the technology, Addenbrooke’s has chosen to install a second Hi·Art system,” says Fred Robertson, TomoTherapy CEO. “We look forward to partnering with Addenbrooke’s to broaden their radiotherapy reach in 2009.”
About Oncology Systems Limited
Oncology Systems Limited, is a privately owned company based in Shrewsbury, England. OSL is an exclusive supplier of radiation therapy technology to the UK and Ireland. It distributes the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® cancer treatment technology to the UK’s NHS and private radiotherapy facilities, and the Republic of Ireland.
About Addenbrooke’s Hospital
Cambridge University Hospitals, one of the first Foundation Trusts, is a 1,000 bed teaching hospital as well as one of the government’s new biomedical research centres. It has a world-class research reputation, whilst also providing acute and specialist services for its local and regional population. Addenbrooke’s oncology service treats over 4,000 new patients per annum, and houses the regional East Anglia Bone Marrow Transplant Unit. In December 2008 Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust took the top prize - Acute Organisation of the Year - in the UK’s annual Health Service Journal Awards.
About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated has developed, markets and sells the TomoTherapy® Hi·Art® treatment system, an advanced radiation therapy system for the treatment of a wide variety of cancers. The Hi·Art treatment system combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. The company’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.
©2009 TomoTherapy Incorporated. All rights reserved. TomoTherapy, the TomoTherapy logo and Hi·Art are among trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of TomoTherapy Incorporated in the United States and other countries.
