Originally Published MX January/February 2004

BUSINESS NEWS

Last October, GE Medical Systems (GEMS; Waukesha, WI) announced its intent to purchase Amersham plc (London) for $9.5 billion.

The move marks GE's initial entry into the so-called passive pharmaceutical business and is certain to generate a steady flow of income by providing hospitals with a one-stop resource for both imaging systems and related media and radiopharmaceuticals.

But industry analysts also see the potential value of the deal in terms of what it means for next-generation imaging technologies and the promise of patient-personalized diagnosis.

Lauding the "resources, talents, and technologies" of the two companies, GE's CEO Jeffrey Immelt emphasized that the "combination of this technological and market knowledge will allow GE to accelerate the development of molecular imaging and personalized medicine where it will be possible to predict and treat disease with therapies tailored to the individual."