Proton Partners International, the holding company of a group which is behind oncology centres across the UK, has floated on the NEX Exchange Growth Market with a market capitalisation of approximately £344m.

Insider Media reports admission of the company’s shares on the exchange took place on February 28th.

Conditional on admission, Proton Partners International received a direct subscription of £20m from various funds managed by Woodford Investment Management (Woodford Funds). The Woodford Funds have also given a commitment to subscribe for further ordinary shares up to a value of £80m within eighteen months from admission at the request of the company.

Proton Partners International is at the vanguard of advancing cancer care in the UK and internationally, building a network of oncology centres known as the Rutherford Cancer Centres. The centres have been named to reflect the renowned scientist Ernest Rutherford’s contribution to the identification and naming of the proton.

Proton Partners has partnered with leading providers to equip each centre with the very latest cancer technology, including IBA (Ion Beam Applications), the world’s leading provider of proton therapy solutions, Elekta, a leading provider of radiotherapy treatments, and Philips, a leader in health technology.

The company plans to open further centres over the next few years and last year its centre in Newport became the first in the UK to offer and treat people with high energy proton beam therapy.

The company was founded in 2015 by Mike Moran and UK and international cancer experts, including Professor Edward Karol Sikora, former head of the World Health Organisation’s cancer programme.

Initial investors include the Wales Life Sciences Investment Fund and the Woodford Patient Capital Trust.