20 February 2015—The Centre for Process Innovation, one of the U.K.’s technology innovation network partners, has announced expanded government funding of €40 million for several growth initiatives, including a National Centre for Healthcare Photonics to be built in County Durham, in northeastern England. The new national photonics facility, to be built with €10 million of the grant, will develop and commercialize light-based therapies to diagnose and treat disease. The Centre for Process Innovation plans to build the open-access facility at its NETPark site in Sedgefield by 2017. Another €8 million to manage the facility will come from industry partners and other grants.
The funding is part of the U.K. government’s North East Growth Deal, a local enterprise partnership that funds economic development in key technology sectors such as advanced manufacturing and renewable energy. The NETPark site is already home to PolyPhotonix, pioneer of organic light-emitting diode displays.