GE Healthcare ties up with Manipal Group for clinical trials

Bangalore, Jun 29 (UNI) Global health major GE Healthcare, a division of General Electric company, today announced the opening of its first integrated development Centre (IDC) at the Manipal Hospital here.

The IDC was expected to conduct around 100 scans annually as part of the planned clinical trials and it would be part of a series of global multi-country clinical studies in the US, Europe and several other countries.

GE Healthcare would also create more IDCs in key strategic locations globally, Mr Don Peters, President and CEO of Medical Diagnostics at GE Healthcare told newspersons here.

Initially clinicl trials would be held for studies on Visipaque, an Isosmolar contrast agent that was launched globally by the company in 1996. Visipaque had been used in millions of X-ray and computer tomography procedures. Contrasting agents were used during medical diagnostic procedures to provide image enhancement of tissues and organs.

Future Studies would be extended to cover the entire diagnostic imaging portfolio of the company, he said, adding that the areas would include X-ray, nuclear medicine and MRI.

Manipal Health Systems CEO Ranjan Pai said the hospital had already invested around US Dollars seven million in installing equipment needed for the studies.

Under the terms of the collaboration, physicians at Manipal Hospital would act as study investigators and provide clinical and imaging services and administration at the hospital, while GE Healthcare would pay the required fees for such investigations.

Dr Peters could not quanitify the amount that would be paid to the Manial Group which had 20 ongoing clinical trials for various drugs.

IDC in Bangalore would play a crucial role in GE Healthcare's ongoing global clinical research programme and supported its vision of early health by helping to bring new diagnostic imaging agents to market and working to address serious unmet medical needs in oncology, neurology and cardiology, Dr Peters said.

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