Accuray relocated its headquarters from Sunnyvale, California, to Madison.
Wisconsin expanded its leadership in biohealth this summer when Accuray, a major radiotherapy technology firm, relocated its headquarters from Sunnyvale, California, to Madison and opened the doors to a state-of-the-art global training center.
“Accuray is committed to building our business in Wisconsin and supporting the state’s efforts to grow as a global leader in biomedical and health care technology,” said Suzanne Winter, Accuray’s president and CEO.
Madison holds a strong connection to the company’s success. Accuray is the maker of radiotherapy machines for cancer treatment, and its image-guided TomoTherapy® was developed through the research of University of Wisconsin-Madison medical physicist Thomas “Rock” Mackie.
Accuray’s headquarters move coincided with the expansion of its Madison-based manufacturing facility. The publicly traded company has about 1,000 employees, including about 320 in Wisconsin.
Winter said moving the company’s headquarters gives it the opportunity to take advantage of the city’s labor force in manufacturing and advanced research and development in medical physics and software engineering.
“We moved our headquarters location to Madison in order to align with where most of our office-based employees live and the center of our manufacturing and global customer education operations,” Winter said. “Our headquarters and key functions will be in one location, which I believe will enhance our ability to offer innovative, cancer-fighting treatments to our customers and the patients they treat.”
Accuray’s moves bolster an already thriving Wisconsin biohealth sector. The industry’s annual economic impact in Wisconsin is currently estimated at $28.8 billion.
The state is home to more than 1,700 biohealth companies—spanning medical devices and diagnostics, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, digital health, and health research institutes—that employ more than 46,000 people.
Accuray makes the CyberKnife®, TomoTherapy®, and Radixact® radiotherapy systems to address the full spectrum of patients’ needs and to improve their lives.
The training center aims to advance radiotherapy treatment techniques as demand grows for precision cancer care. It is part of Accuray’s comprehensive education program, which also includes on-site training, online microlearning, and cloud-based courses.
The center will conduct in-person, remote, and hybrid options that will allow health providers to remain current on best practices and innovations in radiation therapy. Offering several educational options allows medical care teams to choose how and where they learn.
Education in the company’s systems begins with installation and carries users through the life of the devices.
“We work hand-in-hand with them to make sure they get the most out of their Accuray products,” Winter added. “We are committed to delivering the optimal learning experience for our customers and believe our robust education program, with our new Madison training facility, will do just that.”
The facility features several Accuray radiation systems for training, as well as lab spaces with advanced remote learning capabilities that will enable members of a medical care team to participate in the same course, at the same time, from different locations.
