Northwell Health and the START Center for Cancer Research have inaugurated a $5.7mearly-phase cancer clinical trial centre in the US.

The Northwell-START New York-Long Island facility is situated in Lake Success and is part of the R.J. Zuckerberg Cancer Center, which hosts Northwell specialists and offers infusion therapy, imaging services, and radiation therapy.

It represents START’s inaugural site in New York and builds on an alliance formed between the two firms last year.

The facility is designed to deliver early-phase trials in a dedicated setting, allowing patients to receive cancer care treatment.

It is equipped with a research team, six private exam rooms, 14 infusion bays, a pharmacokinetic lab, and a pharmacy.

Situated within the same building as a diagnostic imaging centre, molecular testing laboratory, and procedural suites for biopsy, the centre provides access to a range of support services and medical specialities.

Northwell Cancer Institute executive director and physician-in-chief Richard Barakat said: "As a health system treating more New Yorkers with cancer than anyone else, we have both the responsibility and the opportunity to give our patients access to cutting-edge treatments without requiring them to travel far from home.”

The centre will be spearheaded by Northwell START New York-Long Island system head and the START Center for Cancer Research principal investigator Geraldine O'Sullivan Coyne.

The START network currently supports more than 800 active industry-sponsored early-phase cancer trials worldwide, and the Northwell site will be fully integrated into this network.

A second Northwell-START Center is planned for Manhattan, with an expected opening in 2027.

In 2024, START entered a strategic collaboration with Spain's Fundación Rioja Salud to broaden access to early-phase cancer trials in La Rioja.