GE Launches Cancer Research and Care Initiative

GE Healthcare, Fairfield, Conn., announced an initiative that it says is aimed at accelerating cancer innovation and improving care for cancer patients.

The company announced a $100 million global challenge seeking ideas to accelerate early detection and enable more personalized treatment of breast cancer. Partners in the challenge are venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Venrock, Mohr Davidow and MPM Capital. In addition, GE CEO and chairman Jeff Immelt said GE will invest $1 billion over the next five years on R&D programs to expand the suite of technologies and solutions for cancer detection and treatment, beginning with breast cancer.

GE is also investing in the development of what it calls a first-in-kind “super database,” which will consolidate clinical, pathology, therapy and outcomes data in one place to enable analysis and further accelerate innovation. This super database will be available in collaboration with leading cancer research, NGO and government organizations, starting with relevant cancer data from GE’s Medical Quality Improvement Consortium; Clarient, a GE Healthcare company; The Premier healthcare alliance; and the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.