YEREVAN. – The construction of the  Radioisotope Production and Molecular Diagnostics Center of the Armenian capital city Yerevan will be completed in November, and the first services will be provided in early 2014.

National Competitiveness Foundation of Armenia (NCFA) Chief Executive Director Arman Khachatryan stated the aforesaid during a press conference on Monday.

To note, Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan, who is chairman of the NCFA Board of Trustees, on Monday paid a working visit to the center. Jean-Michel Happi, World Bank Country Manager for Armenia, likewise was there.   

Khachatryan informed that the center will be a phase in the establishment of a cancer center of excellence. A CBRN (i.e.,  chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) center will be built in the second phase, and a hospital, in the third phase. 

The Molecular Diagnostics Center enables to detect cancer in its most initial phase, and this center will be the only one of its kind in the region.  

Construction of the center will cost about $50 million, which is allocated by the Government of Armenia, the World Bank, and private investments.