Driving next leap forward through innovation and technology, committing to deliver better care to 10 million patients by 2020
- US$100 million open innovation challenge by GE and partners seeks to find and fund ideas to accelerate early detection and enable more personalized treatment
- GE to spend US$1 billion on cancer R&D through 2020 across different types of cancer
- First-in-kind partnerships with governments, NGOs and local health partners expand access to mammography screening and breast cancer technology
- GE's mobile mammography concept SenoCase™ to transform access to screening in underserved areas of the world
KUALA LUMPUR, September 15, 2011 -- (NYSE: GE) -- GE launched a new healthymagination fight against cancer on Friday 15 September through a global campaign aimed at accelerating cancer innovation and improving care while reducing cost for 10 million patients around the world by 2020.
As part of the global campaign, GE CEO and Chairman Jeff Immelt and several venture capital partners announced a healthymagination open innovation Challenge to fund promising ideas to improve breast cancer diagnostics. Immelt also said that GE will spend US$1 billion over the next five years on R&D programs to expand its suite of advanced technologies and solutions for cancer detection and treatment, beginning with breast cancer.
"We envision a day when cancer is no longer a deadly disease," said Jeff Immelt, CEO and Chairman, GE. "Through the combination of GE's integrated cancer technologies and the convening of new partners and data sources, we see a new formula for tackling cancer. We think there is a better way and we are committed to driving towards that with our partners."
Affecting over a million women each year, breast cancer is one of the most common cancers for women of all races around the world. In Malaysia, breast cancer affects women as young as 20 years of age, with breast cancer accounting for 31.1% of newly diagnosed cancer cases. The success rate for treatment when caught early is most successful, and for women aged 40 and above, mammographies remain the gold standard in early detection. Through the global open innovation Challenge, GE hopes to play a role in accelerating cancer innovation, focusing on enabling earlier diagnosis and more effective treatments.
Jitinder Magoon, Country Manager of GE Healthcare Malaysia said, "GE's mission is to save lives through early detection, and in Malaysia, we work closely with hospitals across the country, equipping them with our Full Field Digital Mammography Systems. GE is committed to raising awareness and fostering hope in the fight against breast cancer through our various research programs. We believe in early diagnosis instead of late stage treatment, so that people live longer and lead more productive, fulfilling lives."
Open Innovation to Save Lives
GE's US$100 million global open innovation Challenge, which seeks to identify and bring to market ideas that advance breast cancer diagnostics, is open to Malaysians. The focus of the challenge is on diagnostics to help healthcare professionals better understand cancer tumors at the molecular level, improving early detection, allowing for more accurate diagnoses and ultimately helping doctors make the best possible treatment decisions based on each patient's unique cancer.
The Challenge, open immediately for entries at www.healthymagination.com/challenge, was launched in collaboration with leading venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Venrock, Mohr Davidow and MPM Capital. The effort will also feature a special focus on data, in partnership with O'Reilly Media, whose CEO & founder, Tim O'Reilly is a preeminent advocate for using data science to spur innovation.
To help inspire more transformational innovation, GE is also investing in the development of a "super database," which will consolidate clinical, pathology, therapy and outcomes data in one place to enable analysis and further accelerate innovation. This super database will be available in collaboration with leading cancer research, NGO and government organizations, starting with Clarient, a GE Healthcare Company; GE's Medical Quality Improvement Consortium; The Premier Health Organization; The Swedish Data Registry; the United States Department of Health & Human Services; and Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium. This first-in-kind information resource will be made available to Challenge entrants as well as cancer researchers and innovators.
Challenge entrants will be evaluated by a committee of representatives from GE and venture capital partner firms. A separate, independent judging panel that includes GE executives, venture capital partners and several leading healthcare luminaries will select the recipients of the $100,000 innovation seed grants. To view the full terms and conditions, visit healthymagination.com/challenge. Winners will be announced in the first quarter of 2012.
New Technologies to Improve Screening and Diagnosis
GE will launch new innovations that improve screening and breast cancer diagnosis, and help doctors ensure patients receive the right therapy for their tumor type.
John Dineen, president and CEO, GE Healthcare said, "Cancer is a complex disease and because every patient's cancer is different, oncologists need advanced tools to 'fingerprint' individual cancerous tumors. GE Healthcare continually breaks new ground in advanced diagnostic and molecular imaging equipment, partnering with hospitals and physicians to better manage patients throughout the cancer journey. Today and as we look to the future, we will continue to help doctors characterize cancer at the cellular level. This empowers them with the targeted information they need to prescribe the most accurate and effective therapy for their patient the first time."
GE announced SenoCase, a breakthrough new ultra-portable mammography device concept to take the complete capability of a digital mammography system and miniaturize it into an affordable, ultra-portable unit. This concept has the potential to transform access to breast health screenings for millions of women around the world, bringing life-saving technology to meet women where they live.
GE also previewed the game-changing SenoBright™, Contrast Enhanced Spectral Mammography (CESM), a breast screening technique, available in Malaysia, which will enable more precise identification of breast cancer incidence for over one million women by 2020. SenoBright's exclusive imaging technique, which combines digital mammography, low-and high-level x-rays and a common contrast agent, better identifies incidence of cancer, and better selects patients requiring biopsy. SenoBright will result in lower costs by reducing unneeded procedures and improving a doctor's ability to appropriately treat patients. GE is currently awaiting 510k clearance and FDA approval for the use of SenoBright in the United States. Outside the U.S., SenoBright has been installed in 17 care centers across Europe and Asia.
Building a 'Deeper Bench' of Oncology Expertise
In recent years, the company has significantly expanded its presence in the oncology arena through strategic acquisitions, including Amersham plc. (2004), Biacore International AB (2006), Wave Biotech LLC (2007), MicroCal LLC (2008), Clarient (2010) and Applied Precision (2011) and a joint venture with Omnyx (2009). A recognized pioneer of oncology invention for over 50 years, GE Healthcare continues to conduct research and develop industry-defining technologies.
GE's commitment to new oncology solutions extends through the full cancer care continuum. Among the advanced technologies that GE scientists are working on is a new Positron Emission Tomography (PET) tracer. The goal of this tracer in development is to help doctors evaluate whether particular cancer treatments are working, very early in the course of therapy, by measuring new blood vessel formation in tumors.
GE will publicly track progress against its cancer commitment on healthymagination.com.
To learn more, visit www.healthymagination.com. Follow us on Twitter @GEHealthy or visit us on Facebook at facebook.com/healthymagination.
About GE
GE (NYSE: GE) is a diversified infrastructure, finance and media company taking on the world's toughest challenges. From aircraft engines and power generation to financial services, medical imaging, and television programming, GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs about 300,000 people worldwide. For more information, please visit the company's website at www.ge.com.
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leader, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit www.gehealthcare.com.
About GE's healthymagination Initiative
Launched in May 2009, GE's healthymagination initiative is focused on four critical needs: low-cost technology; healthcare IT; innovation accessible to all; and consumer-driven healthcare. GE has committed that by 2015 it will:
- Invest $3 billion in research and development to launch at least 100 innovations that will help deliver better care to more people at lower cost.
- Provide $2 billion in financing and $1 billion in technology to bring healthcare information technology to rural and underserved areas.
- Reduce the cost of procedures that use GE technologies and services by 15 percent and develop products tailored to underserved regions of the world.
- Reach 100 million more people every year with services and technologies essential for health.
More information at www.healthymagination.com.
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