GE Healthcare announces new oncology solutions investment

GE Healthcare has announced plans to commit $1 billion (632.27 million pounds) of its research and development budget to new oncology solutions over the next five years.

The major new investment will extend across all of the company's global businesses and will involve the expansion of its capabilities in terms of cancer diagnostics, molecular imaging, biopharmaceutical manufacturing and oncology research.

Among the specific areas of investment will be biomarker discovery and molecular pathology studies, while new ways of creating connected oncology workflows and conducting metabolic imaging projects will be investigated.

GE Healthcare states that this programme is being launched in response to the growing worldwide health challenge posed by cancer, which is driving demand for new therapies.

John Dineen, president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare, said: "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."

Earlier this week, the company announced plans to expand its knowledge base and capabilities via a new patent cross-licensing arrangement with Sartorius Stedim Biotech.