GE Medical Systems and GlaxoSmithKline Collaborate
to Advance Molecular Medicine for Improved Disease Management
WAUKESHA, Wis., U.S.A., and LONDON, U.K.- GE Medical Systems, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE: GSK) announced today that the two companies have signed a broad collaborative research agreement to bring clinical molecular imaging technologies into the pharmaceutical development process. The first project under this agreement aims to advance the diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
The collaboration is designed to accelerate the development of new medicines, diagnose disease earlier, treat disease earlier, and ultimately deliver a better quality of life to patients. GE Medical Systems is aggressively pursuing the development of non-invasive molecular imaging to detect and monitor disease with specific molecular markers. GlaxoSmithKline has expertise in respiratory science, molecular medicine and drug development for diseases including COPD, and in the acceleration of drug discovery and development through the application of novel Predictive Medicine tools. By working together, GE Medical Systems and GlaxoSmithKline hope to enable doctors to stage diseases better so that they can treat patients more effectively.
“This is an important step in the pursuit of molecular imaging,” said Joseph M. Hogan, President & CEO, GE Medical Systems. “We’re proud to take the expertise of GE Medical Systems and GlaxoSmithKline and bring them together to develop the next generation of molecular diagnostics and therapeutics."
According to the American Lung Association and a recent article in The Lancet, COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema, will become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020. It is currently the fourth leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The social costs of COPD were estimated to total $15 billion in 1999, according to the American Lung Association. By the time the shortness of breath and cough associated with COPD is evident, the disease has progressed significantly for a number of years, making early detection critical.
“Recent developments in clinical imaging technologies are increasingly providing important information with which to accelerate the discovery and development of new medicines for major chronic diseases,” said Allan Baxter, Senior Vice President, Drug Discovery, R&D at GlaxoSmithKline. “We expect this collaboration with GE Medical Systems not only to bring new insights into COPD, but also to help define appropriate intervention points for therapies for the management of this very important and debilitating disease.”
Early stages of this collaboration will take place at GE’s Corporate Research and Development site in Schenectady, New York in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline’s COPD clinical Network.
“Future molecular imaging techniques will be built on the principles of detecting and quantifying highly specific biological changes,” said Eric Stahre, General Manager for Genomics and Molecular Imaging at GE Medical Systems. “As GE develops imaging capabilities that see the molecular markers of disease, we can deliver greater medical value when medicines are available to alter their progression. This collaboration with GSK will help establish that link."
About GlaxoSmithKline
GSK – one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For more information, visit GlaxoSmithKline on the World Wide Web at www.gsk.com
About GE Medical Systems
GE Medical Systems is an $8 billion global leader in medical information and technology. Its offerings include networking and productivity tools, healthcare information systems, patient monitoring systems, conventional and digital X-ray, computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound and bone mineral densitometry, positron emission tomography (PET), and nuclear medicine. For more than 100 years, health care providers worldwide have relied on GE Medical Systems for high-quality medical technology, services and productivity solutions. For more information, visit the GE Medical Systems Web site at gemedicalsystems.com.
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. GlaxoSmithKline and GE Medical Systems caution that there can be no assurance that actual results or conditions will not differ materially from those projected or suggested in such forward-looking statements based on a variety of factors, including, but not limited to, the companies’ early stages of development, product developments risks, uncertainty of additional funding, competition, reliance on a few customers, and the companies’ abilities to protect their patents and proprietary rights and commercialize their products. GlaxoSmithKline and GE Medical Systems disclaim any intent or obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
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