Proton Partners International announced today that it will be contracted for the first proton therapy facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Abu Dhabi Proton Centre.

This news comes on the heels of recent headlines describing a contract for Proton Partners International to bring proton therapy to three U.K. facilities. As with that announcement, this one includes involvement from Philips Healthcare and will utilize IBA proton systems.

"By bringing proton beam therapy to the people of the UAE, His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan has shown a vision for the future of health care in the country, and I very much look forward to supporting his aim of delivering the most advanced cancer treatments to the people of the UAE," said Mike Moran, CEO of Proton Partners International, in a statement.

The arrangement also involves SBK Holding LLC, Albans Partners General Trading LLC, ORCA, and MEI Healthcare. "This innovative and proven team of health care partners possess the required expertise and capability to ensure the successful development, construction, and operation of this state-of-the-art oncology program," said David Knott, CEO of MEI Healthcare.

Proton Partners International is a private limited company, registered in Wales. It formed after discussions between professor Karol Sikora, former head of the WHO's cancer program, life sciences entrepreneur Sir Chris Evans, and Neil Woodford, founding partner of Woodford Investment Management. To date, institutional and private investors have committed almost 100 million euros in equity finance in the company.

UPDATE: An earlier version of this story called the Abu Dhabi Proton Centre "the first in the Middle East" but it has since come to our attention that in November of 2014 Varian Medical Systems signed a purchase agreement with King Fahd Medical Center in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia for a multi-room proton facility that is currently under construction. We apologize for the oversight.

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