A FAST-GROWING firm that has become a leading light of Liverpool’s bioscience sector has launched another recruitment drive.

Redx Oncology, which launched in April last year and secured £5.9m from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund (RGF), has already taken on 67 staff from graduates to project managers.

The business is now looking for another 60 staff as it continues its growth. Redx Oncology, which researches and develops cancer treatments, plans to create up to 250 jobs by 2016.

Its managing director, Dr Derek Lindsay, said he had been “pleasantly surprised” by the level of interest the vacancies were attracting.

He said: “Redx Oncology is continuing to recruit first-class scientists and professionals from all over the world – boosting Liverpool’s knowledge economy and contributing to the growth of the city and the region, and we are delighted to be building on the city's established reputation in cancer care.

“The immensely positive response we have had is partly a consequence of the difficult state the pharma industry is in at the moment but it also shows that people are interested in working in the North West and that the region is rapidly developing as a science sector.”

In October, Redx Oncology’s parent group, Redx Pharma, won another £4.7m from the RGF to create a new “anti-infectives” business that could itself create more than 100 jobs.