SINGAPORE - Health technology company Philips and the Singapore Institute of Advanced Medicine Holdings opened a new oncology centre on Wednesday (June 6) to provide specialised treatment to the rising number of people diagnosed with cancer in South-east Asia.

Built with an investment of close to S$100 million, the 40,000 sq ft Advanced Medicine Imaging (AMI) centre in Biopolis is equipped with a range of Philips' imaging and clinical informatics systems to provide timely and accurate diagnoses of cancer. It is part of the Dutch company's global expansion plans into healthcare innovation.

The facility is also home to the first Proton Therapy Centre in Asia-Pacific, scheduled to treat its first patient early next year.

"Our aim is to help clinicians identify cancer early, when it is more likely to respond to treatment, potentially resulting in better health outcomes and considerable savings in treatment costs," said Philips executive vice-president and chief of international markets Henk de Jong, who was in Singapore to officiate the opening of the centre.