Elekta's New Technology is Winning Over Customers in the UK

CRAWLEY, England, Feb. 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- With the growing need for more advanced radiotherapy treatment in the U.K., new medical centres are in an ideal position to specify and adopt the most sophisticated equipment for maximum efficiency and patient throughput.

Aligned with these priorities, Elekta – with its worldwide linear accelerator (LINAC) production plant in Crawley – has become the preferred radiotherapy provider, with increasing numbers of new centres choosing Elekta technology to satisfy their needs.

The strong demand for Elekta has come from expanding public and private centres and below are some examples up until year 2012.

Cancer Partners UK®, is a leading provider of advanced radiotherapy in the U.K.'s private sector, and has Elekta treatment systems at each of its regional centres in Portsmouth, Southampton, Elstree, Birmingham and Nottingham. Cancer Partners UK is currently building its sixth centre in Guildford, which will be supplied with Elekta's revolutionary Agility™ 160-leaf multileaf collimator (MLC) for rapid, highly conformal radiation beam shaping. 

"All of our centres operate Elekta Synergy® systems with integrated imaging to ensure very precise treatments for our patients," says Cancer Partner UK's chief executive, Steve Bird. "At the same time, these highly accurate targeting systems allow us to keep at the forefront of technology, enabling us to streamline our workflow."

In that same period in the National Health Service (NHS), several new centres and satellite clinics have adopted Elekta as their radiotherapy provider. These include Musgrove Park Hospital, an £18m private finance initiative operating an Elekta Synergy system and three Precise Treatment System™ linacs. The hospital coordinates its radiotherapy workflow with Elekta's MOSAIQ® Oncology Information System. 

Andrew Morgan, Head of Radiation Therapy Physics at Musgrove Park Hospital (Taunton) says: "As part of our technology assessment, reliability combined with maximum efficiency was essential to maintain patient volume. Elekta worked closely in partnership with us to ensure our priorities were met.''

Other new public sector developments include The Christie NHS Foundation Trust. This centre a pioneer in cancer research and Europe's largest cancer centre, opened a new satellite clinic in Oldham and operates two Elekta Synergy linacs. Additionally, two other new NHS satellite cancer centres Guy's and St Thomas' satellite centre in South London and Bracknell also have chosen Elekta to be their radiotherapy solutions provider.

Commenting on this encouraging situation, Ian Alexander, Regional Vice President for Elekta Europe says: "Elekta is redoubling its efforts to supply U.K. medical centres with the tools they need to treat their patients. However, it is important to emphasize that simply providing the technology is not enough in today's healthcare environment. A major differentiator for Elekta is our open-systems development philosophy, combined with a collaborative working approach with our customers."

Agility is not available for sale or distribution in all regions. Please contact your local Elekta representative or authorized distributor for further details.

For further information, please contact:
Johan Andersson Melbi, Director, Investor Relations, Elekta AB
Tel: +46-702-100-451, email: johan.anderssonmelbi@elekta.com  
Time zone: CET: Central European Time

Michelle Joiner, Director, Global Public Relations and Brand Management, Elekta
Tel: +1-770-670-2447, email: michelle.joiner@elekta.com
Time zone: ET: Eastern Time

About Elekta
Elekta is a human care company pioneering significant innovations and clinical solutions for treating cancer and brain disorders. The company develops sophisticated, state-of-the-art tools and treatment planning systems for radiation therapy, radiosurgery and brachytherapy, as well as workflow enhancing software systems across the spectrum of cancer care. Stretching the boundaries of science and technology, providing intelligent and resource-efficient solutions that offer confidence to both healthcare providers and patients, Elekta aims to improve, prolong and even save patient lives.

Today, Elekta solutions in oncology and neurosurgery are used in over 6,000 hospitals worldwide. Elekta employs around 3,400 employees globally. The corporate headquarters is located in Stockholm, Sweden, and the company is listed on the Nordic Exchange under the ticker EKTAb. Website: www.elekta.com.