GE Healthcare, the health business of General Electric, announced major investment plans to develop oncology solutions.
The company plans to allot $1billion of its total R&D budget over the next five years to expand its advanced cancer diagnostic and molecular imaging capabilities, as well as its world-class technologies for the manufacture of biopharmaceuticals and for cancer research.
The investment plan was announced alongside a $100m open innovation challenge in New York City.
Through this investment, GE Healthcare will bring advanced technologies to the market that improve accuracy of cancer diagnosis to enable more effective treatment decisions and empower doctors and patients with better information.
"We are committed to tackling cancer. However, with a disease as complex and multifaceted as cancer, solutions need to be equally multifaceted and even more integrated, combining imaging, molecular diagnostics and healthcare IT," said John Dineen, president and CEO, GE Healthcare, in a statement. "As one of the most relevant global cancer diagnostic companies, we are devoting an even greater share of our R&D budget to continue developing new oncology solutions."
GE Healthcare has already shown its commitment to cancer patients through a wide portfolio for oncology and a strategy that combines cellular research, medical imaging, laboratory diagnostics, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies and information technology that helps researchers increase their understanding of the causes and progression of cancer and help physicians deliver more personalized cancer treatment and management decision.
In recent years, the company has significantly expanded its presence in the oncology arena through strategic acquisitions, including Amersham, Biacore International, Wave Biotech, MicroCal, Clarient and Applied Precision and a joint venture Omnyx.
"The only way we can help clinicians beat cancer is to give them the tools to find it earlier, stage it better, and quantitatively measure response to therapy," said GE Vice President and GE Healthcare Chief Technology Officer Mike Harsh, who oversees GE Healthcare's global research and development efforts, in a statement.
"The integration of GE Healthcare's expertise in imaging, analytics, diagnostics, cellular analysis, and healthcare IT is helping create technologies and solutions that can be used in a rural developing country or in a modern urban hospital," Harsh added.
The investment will focus on developing new oncology solutions and build on advanced technologies and research already in progress, company officials said.
Rajani Baburajan is a contributing editor for HealthTechZone. To read more of Rajani's articles, please visit her columnist page.Edited by
Rich Steeves
