GE Healthcare and iBio form new technology alliance

GE Healthcare has announced a new technology alliance with iBio that aims to open up new frontiers in biopharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing.

The agreement will see the companies working alongside the Fraunhofer USA Center for Molecular Biotechnology (CMB) to create and commercialise plant-based technologies for use in drug development.

It will combine iBio's innovative plant-based vaccine manufacturing platform iBioLaunch with GE Healthcare's proven world-class capabilities in start-to-finish technologies for biopharmaceutical manufacturing.

The iBioLaunch platform induces plants to rapidly produce high levels of proteins such as vaccines, via a process that can be easily and reliably scaled up in low-cost controlled-growth facilities.

Olivier Loeillot, general manager of enterprise solutions at GE Healthcare Life Sciences, said: "We look forward to continuing our work with the talented teams at iBio and CMB to explore how this innovative technology could become a commercial reality."

Currently, the company's ImageQuant LAS4000 biomolecular imager is being used to carry out drug testing during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.