Liverpool is to be the site of the flagship HQ of Rutherford Diagnostics, located in Knowledge Quarter Liverpool (KQ Liverpool) at Liverpool City Council’s £1 billion Paddington Village Development.
The centre, which will be the first in a network of centres, will address the significant shortage of diagnostic provision in the UK resulting in patients waiting weeks for test results.The goal is to reduce waiting times for diagnostic tests from weeks to days and develop real partnerships with private healthcare and NHS organisations to help achieve this.
At the heart of Rutherford Diagnostics will be genomics, the recording of whole genome sequence data which will be used to predict disease, susceptibility, and treatment and drug response. The core technologies Rutherford Diagnostics will provide include Spectral CT, digital PET-CT, 3T MRI, ultrasound, endoscopy, and a commercial genomics laboratory.
The five-storey centre will be built by the council’s appointed contractor Morgan Sindall, and is adjacent to the Rutherford Cancer Centre North West (also operated by Proton Partners International) and directly opposite the Royal College of Physicians’ new Northern headquarters, which is situated in The Spine, a new 200,000ft2 building.
Mayor Joe Anderson hailed the ground break as a landmark day for Liverpool; “This diagnostics centre is going to be a fantastic addition to Paddington Village and further boosts our plans for a world leading innovation hub in the heart of the city’s Knowledge Quarter. Paddington Village is gaining real momentum now with renowned tenants like Proton Partners International, the RCP and Kaplan investing in the city and creating highly skilled jobs – and the great news is that there is much more to come.”
