The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre in Liverpool has become the first NHS hospital in the North West to manufacture batches of chemotherapy on site using specialist Vapourised Hydrogen Peroxide (VHP) isolators.
Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy and immunotherapy have to be produced in highly controlled ‘aseptic’ clean room environments to minimise risk of contamination. VHP isolators are new technology for the NHS. The vapourised hydrogen peroxide destroys any bugs or bacteria on the materials being used to produce cancer treatments, reducing any risk of infection to patients.
Following months of validation and a successful MHRA inspection in March 2025, the licensed facility is now busy manufacturing batches of chemotherapy.
The Pharmacy Aseptic Service already produced thousands of SACT treatments each month using five conventional isolators, which will remain dedicated to individual bespoke treatments. The addition of the four VHP isolators enables larger scale manufacturing, improving production efficiency and allowing multiple doses to be prepared as a batch rather than as individual units.
This improves the service for patients as more treatments are now produced on site, instead of having to be ordered in and delivered. It has also reduced costs for the NHS.
Vicky Brereton, Aseptic Pharmacy Production Manager at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:
As one of the UK’s largest cancer centres, we process around 8,000 doses of SACT treatments through the department each month. We make around 30% of that on site with the rest being supplied from commercial suppliers.
The new VHP isolators allow us to produce batches of doses in-house, reducing the amount we need to order in from external companies. It is fantastic news for patients and exciting news for the NHS in our region.
Ben Woodhouse, Director of Pharmacy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre, said:
Vicky and the team have worked incredibly hard and deserve enormous credit for becoming the first NHS pharmacy in the North West to deliver industry-standard batch production.
We are now looking at expanding the service to a wider range of cancer treatments, offering even greater convenience for patients and even better value for the NHS.
Did you know?
- The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre’s pharmacy team provide around 8,000 treatments each month.
- Before the new VHP isolators, they could only produce around 2,000 of these in-house. The new isolators have increased this, reducing the volume of treatments we have to order in from commercial suppliers.
- The QA process for batch release from the VHP isolators incorporates innovative use of enzyme indicators, delivering immediate confirmation of successful decontamination.
How we make cancer treatments: Inside the isolator
This short video shows how our Aseptic Pharmacy team prepare cancer treatments inside the VHP isolator.
Description:
A pharmacy team member who is fully covered in cleanroom garments, cap, facemask and gloves is drawing a liquid into a syringe from a vial. They are sitting in front of a large see-through isolator and their hands are inside the isolator. The video caption says 'Preparing a batch of chemotherapy inside an isolator'.
The next clip shows them taking the syringe and injecting its contents into an infusion bag - this also happens inside the isolator. The video caption says 'The chemotherapy is carefully measured before being injected into bags of saline solution'.
