It will be one of four treatment centres being built by Proton Partners International across the UK and will have the capacity to treat up to 700 cancer patients a year. Tony McDonough reports.
Up to 700 cancer patients will receive lifesaving treatment at £35m ultra high-tech proton beam therapy centre to be built in Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter (KQ Liverpool).
It will be one of four treatment centres being built by Proton Partners International across the UK.
The deal to secure the centre for Paddington Village in the heart of KQ Liverpool was announced by Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson at the MIPIM property and investment expo in Cannes.
Mayor Anderson is leading a private sector delegation from Merseyside to the event taking place all this week.
Open in 2018
Operational by 2018 and able to treat up to 700 patients per year, the new facility – to be called The Rutherford Cancer Centre North West – will be based yards from where RCP North, the new northern headquarters of the Royal College of Physicians, will also be built.
The announcement comes just a week after a double boost for KQ Liverpool, which lies within one of the city’s five Mayoral Development Zones.
Gateway masterplan
Liverpool City Council’s cabinet gave the go-ahead for the drafting of a gateway masterplan to connect the city centre to KQ Liverpool and the authority’s planning committee approved a 13-storey live and learn base for Liverpool International College, also in Paddington Village.
Speaking on the French Riviera, Mayor Anderson said: “Momentum is really beginning to build for KQ Liverpool and we can expect more exciting announcements, like Proton Partners International’s, which will further cement its reputation as a world-leading innovation district, specialising in medical and life sciences research.”
Mike Moran, chief executive Officer of Proton Partners International, said the deal was the completion of a lifetime ambition after his interest in the non-intrusive therapy was first fuelled by his brother’s cancer diagnosis.
European network
The company also shares research interests with the University of Liverpool’s Physics department in detector R&D and through the European network on the Optimisation of Medical Accelerator.
Mr Moran added: “As someone born in Liverpool I’m genuinely thrilled Proton Partners International will be part of this exciting new chapter in the city’s history.
“To see the centre being located where my brother went to school, and after what he went through, is a story that’s come full circle in many ways.”
Colin Sinclair, chief executive of KQ Liverpool, said: “We are delighted that Proton Partners International have chosen Liverpool ahead of other UK locations and that this state-of the art- facility will be available to the people of the North West.”