Proton Partners International has received formal planning permission for a new cancer treatment centre in Reading, Berkshire.
Proton Partners will invest £30m in the facility, which will be located at the Thames Valley Science Park and will offer proton beam therapy among other conventional cancer therapies.
The Reading centre will be the third to be built in the UK by Proton Partners and will help to meet growing demand for proton beam therapy, a specialised type of cancer treatment currently only available overseas.
Two other Proton Partners centres are also under construction – the first of which will be in Newport, Wales; and the second in Bomarsund, Northumberland.
The Reading centre will include facilities for proton beam therapy, a linear accelerator, as well as a CT suite and an MRI unit.
It is expected that each Proton Partners centre will be able to treat up to 500 patients a year and will accept NHS patients, medically-insured private patients, and self-paying patients.
Mike Moran, chief executive officer of Proton Partners, said: “We are delighted that our new centre will be built at the heart of one of the most-exciting health and life sciences projects in Europe.
“Located just off the M4 corridor, and with connections to Heathrow, this centre will make proton beam therapy available to patients from the South of England as well as international patients.
“We’re bringing the top cancer technology to Reading – which is true of all of our treatment centres – and this investment will not only enhance the level of cancer treatment available, but will also bring skilled jobs to the area.”
The facility will be built by GRAHAM Construction.
