GE Healthcare to endow another $50 million in India

GE Healthcare, the $17-billion healthcare unit of GE, will be investing $50 million in India over the next three years to develop a portfolio of lowcost diagnostic imaging products. The healthcare major expects to roll out 9-10 indigenously designed diagnostic equipment annually that includes CT systems, molecular imaging systems, baby warmers and biological diagnostics for the Indian market.  "We are developing a portfolio for biological diagnostics in India," said John Dineen, president and CEO of GE Healthcare, who was in Bangalore on Thursday.

Biological diagnostics combines the power of functional scanning with biological tracers to help clinicians to detect and diagnose diseases earlier and evaluate treatment efficacy quickly. It includes pathology tests, DNA tests and blood-based scanning. GE Healthcare may hire another 1,000 engineers in India in the next few years to keep pace with its growth plans here. It currently has 1,200. "We are growing at a CAGR of 30% in India and will be able to sustain it though 2015," Dineen said. The company expects revenue of $400 million in 2011, up from $300 mn last year. Medical devices and solutions tailored for India has attracted a lot of global attention, including from players like Philips and Siemens.

GE wants to develop affordable cardiac care solutions, given that Indians are more susceptible to heart ailments compared to other populations. According to WHO estimates, close to 60% of cardiac patients worldwide will be from India by 2020. About 25% of deaths in the age group of 25-69 years are because of heart diseases.

In a bid to make cardiac care affordable, GE Healthcare on Thursday unveiled two products —- GE Healthcare MAC 600 and GE VIVID P3 ultrasound system – designed and developed by its India facility. MAC 600 is a lightweight portable ECG device with an option to save the results in Adobe Acrobat files using detachable memory cards. MAC 600 comes with the Cardiosoft ECG viewer and is fitted with battery-backed operations for up to 250 patients in one battery charge. It costs between Rs 60,000 and Rs 75,000, a price that's said to be 80% lower than similar FDA-cleared ECG solutions that are imported currently.

In 2008, GE had introduced the first such portable ECG machine called MAC 400 and followed it up the next year with MACi, that was priced at Rs 25,000, half the price of MAC 400. GE VIVID P3 is a cardiac imaging ultrasound system that provides for efficient data management and transfer of images. It is priced at Rs 11-12 lakh, 50% lower than other similar FDA-approved products, the company said. GE Healthcare has seven manufacturing units in India and is close to finalizing the eighth plant.