GE Healthcare Invests RMB 380 Million to Expand Diagnostic Pharmaceutical Operations in Shanghai

Source: Device Home

On May 15, GE Healthcare announced the signing of a letter of intent for investment cooperation with the Science and Technology and Economy Committee of Pudong New District, Shanghai, to increase investment.RMB 380 millionRMB, for cooperation intentions in multiple fields such as new product introduction and new production line construction, factory green upgrades, intelligent manufacturing, and digital transformation.

It is worth mentioning that this year also marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of GE Healthcare's Shanghai production base for diagnostic drugs (hereinafter referred to as the "Shanghai Base") in Zhangjiang, Pudong. GE Healthcare moved in shortly after the establishment of the Zhangjiang Biomedical Base in 1994.

After more than 30 years of development, Pudong New Area has gathered over 3,900 biopharmaceutical enterprises, including 750 foreign-invested companies, becoming one of the regions in China with the most complete biopharmaceutical industry chain, the best ecosystem, the most concentrated talent pool, and the most active innovation. Zhangjiang Pharma Valley has also become an internationally renowned industrial calling card. During this time, a group of biopharmaceutical enterprises represented by GE Healthcare have achieved synchronized development and made joint efforts alongside Pudong's biopharmaceutical industry.

Since GE Healthcare established its presence in 1994, it embarked on the path of domestically producing diagnostic drugs in China to serve the global market. Today, GE Healthcare’s Shanghai facility has achieved full domestic production of contrast agents used in CT and MRI enhancement scans, becoming one of GE Healthcare's most critical global production bases for medical contrast agents. It has ranked first among China's exporting medical enterprises for several consecutive years, supplying the global market. Globally, every second, four patients are examined using GE Healthcare's diagnostic drugs.

It is reported that, based on the investment cooperation intention, this time GE Healthcare will work together with Pudong New Area to implement more new diagnostic drug products and production lines, carry out green upgrades and renovations of the factory, increase the intensity of smart manufacturing and digital transformation, so as to further enhance the production capacity and capabilities in China, and promote more innovative achievements in diagnostic drugs through cooperation and transformation.

For instance, GE Healthcare's medical contrast agents are widely used in clinical pathways such as X-ray machines, CT scans, MRI, and ultrasound contrast imaging. As the "scouts" of imaging examinations, medical contrast agents can greatly enhance the accuracy of tests and support the formulation of better clinical solutions. Further expanding the product line at the Shanghai site and increasing its importance in GE Healthcare’s global supply chain will not only empower precise clinical diagnosis and decision-making but also drive upgrades across the upstream and downstream segments of the industry and innovation chains. This will allow high-quality innovative drugs to benefit clinical practice more quickly and promote the large-scale implementation of precision medicine in China.

For example, through the intelligent green factory upgrade project, Shanghai base is expected to achieve a carbon emission reduction of nearly 840 tons, steam savings of 4,300 tons, and electricity savings of 196,000 kilowatt-hours in the next three years.

At the same time, the Shanghai site will officially be designated as the "GE Healthcare Diagnostic Pharmaceutical Belt and Road Excellence Manufacturing Center." This Excellence Manufacturing Center will fully leverage the core hub value of global supply and service for diagnostic pharmaceuticals, allowing more innovative achievements made in China to benefit patients and healthcare providers worldwide. It will enhance resource sharing and collaboration, drive the upgrading and high-quality development of the diagnostic pharmaceuticals industry chain, and contribute to building a world-class biopharmaceuticals industrial cluster in Pudong, Shanghai.

In China, the volume of imaging examinations is increasing annually by more than 30%, allowing an increasing number of patients to achieve "early screening, early diagnosis, and early treatment." The image enhancement and precision medicine behind diagnostic drugs are emerging and future industries with great potential.

From the first-generation X-ray machine to the world's first commercial cyclotron, and from the world’s first full-body MRI system to two Nobel Prize winners who have driven revolutions in medical imaging, GE Healthcare has consistently remained at the forefront of industry technology. At the same time, GE Healthcare has continuously explored new industrial chain models in the field of medical equipment. Throughout this process, GE Healthcare’s Shanghai base has steadfastly chosen to "deeply cultivate in China."

In 1994, GE Healthcare established a contrast media production base in Pudong, Shanghai, becoming one of the first multinational companies to settle in Zhangjiang, Pudong, and embarking on a path of comprehensive localization of diagnostic drugs in China to serve the global market.

Not far from the Shanghai base, there is another important "position" of GE Healthcare, namely the China Science and Technology Park, where the "Shanghai Innovation Center" was established last year. This is GE Healthcare's largest innovation entity in Shanghai. Based on the innovation center model, connecting global resource allocation and scientific innovation capabilities, it has currently cooperated with more than 40 partners from all walks of life and launched over 30 "+AI" technology integration innovations.

GE Healthcare China President and CEO Zhang Yihao stated that the Innovation Center at the China Science Park serves as the "brain" empowering precision medicine R&D, while the diagnostic pharmaceuticals at the Shanghai site act as the "hands and feet" for implementing precision diagnosis and treatment. Together, they create synergistic advantages to drive the development of precision medicine. For instance, through collaboration with Professor Zhang Wenhong's team at the National Center for Infectious Diseases Medicine, GE Healthcare is advancing early diagnosis and treatment of liver diseases by integrating the strengths of GE Healthcare’s ultrasound, MRI, and diagnostic pharmaceuticals to form comprehensive precision medicine solutions covering the entire disease course. "As one of the first pharmaceutical plants to be established in the Pudong Zhangjiang Hi-Tech Park, the Shanghai site, together with the GE Healthcare China Science Park also located in Pudong Zhangjiang, has achieved leapfrog development from small to large to strong, contributing to the construction of Shanghai’s science and innovation hub and the strategic high ground of the Pudong Zhangjiang Medicine Valley. This dual-driven effort helps bring more cutting-edge medical productivity from China to the world."

When localization and domestic production reach a certain scale, the next step for differentiation will surely lie in innovation. Therefore, while maintaining its strong momentum in domestic production and collaboration, GE Healthcare has upgraded its strategy in China and introduced the new concept of "Boundless Innovation." Based on this, over the past three years from 2021 to the present, GE Healthcare has successively launched three "Innovation Centers" in Beijing, Wuxi, and Shanghai. Each center focuses on leveraging its unique strengths to create incubation platforms targeting the supply chain, imaging chain, and digital chain, respectively.

Beijing "Innovation Center"

Among them, the Beijing "Innovation Center" was established in 2021. Relying on GE Healthcare's product design and R&D capabilities in China, as well as the full localization of its Beijing imaging equipment manufacturing base, the center focuses on industry-university-research collaborative R&D, advanced manufacturing, lean operations, and other projects in the medical field to accelerate the commercialization of innovative achievements.

In April 2023, Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone officially designated the GE Healthcare Beijing Innovation Center as the first technology enterprise incubator in the medical and health sector within the zone – "GE Healthcare Innovation Incubation Platform." The incubator will provide start-up enterprise partners with various resource对接services,打通the chain of technology transfer, and nurture an innovative ecosystem through incubation.

Wuxi "Innovation Center"

In October 2021, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the establishment of GE Healthcare's Wuxi base, the GE Healthcare "Wuxi Innovation Center" was officially launched. The first group of入驻 enterprises, including Shennan, Dewei, MaiDe Intelligent, and Shukun Technology, signed strategic cooperation agreements with GE Healthcare.

Wuxi is the second stop of GE Healthcare's "Innovation Center," which aims to effectively integrate the research capabilities of hospitals, experts, universities, and AI companies both in China and abroad, as well as GE Healthcare’s full industry chain resources. Focusing on the customized needs of Chinese users, it accelerates the implementation of innovations, covering functions such as software and hardware development, testing and validation, and product maintenance for ultrasound and life monitoring equipment.

As one of GE Healthcare's largest global R&D centers, the Wuxi base has developed and produced the world's first laptop color ultrasound and the first tablet color ultrasound. Currently, it has become GE Healthcare's largest innovation center for ultrasound products and a production base for medical products such as ventilators, anesthesia machines, and patient monitors.

Shanghai "Innovation Center"

The Shanghai Innovation Center, officially inaugurated in November 2023, represents both the embodiment of GE Healthcare's global precision medicine strategy post-split and another milestone in the deep advancement of its China strategy: "Comprehensive Localization, Boundaryless Innovation, and Win-Win Collaboration." The center is dedicated to bridging global resource allocation with scientific and technological innovation capabilities, integrating the industry-academia-research-application ecosystem both internationally and within China, further propelling the development of Shanghai as a science and technology innovation hub and advancing the integrated development of the Yangtze River Delta region.

It is reported that the "Innovation Center" in Shanghai initially covers an area of 4,000 square meters and has 100 R&D experts, making it the largest and most fully functional innovation entity among GE Healthcare's three Innovation Centers. It will focus on digital medical technology and application innovation, serving as a "smart brain" to empower GE Healthcare’s R&D in China, an incubation platform supporting specialized and innovative enterprises, and a one-stop platform to accelerate the transformation of digital healthcare achievements.

Will continue to empower GE Healthcare's 1,800 R&D engineers in China with digital innovation, serving as the "innovative brain" driving GE Healthcare's R&D in China, while collaborating with ecosystem partners to explore the implementation of cutting-edge digital technologies and integrated diagnosis-treatment solutions.

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China's medical device market has always attracted major multinational pharmaceutical and device companies to deepen their presence due to its rapidly growing industry scale.

After 30 years of establishment in Shanghai Pudong, the GE Healthcare Shanghai site has become one of GE Healthcare's largest global production bases for medical contrast agents, the largest supplier of contrast agent raw materials in China, and one of the largest manufacturers of non-ionic contrast agents. It has achieved full local production of contrast agents used in CT and MRI enhancement scans in China, with all products included in the national medical insurance. Today, the GE Healthcare Shanghai site is also the "Belt and Road" Center of Excellence for Intelligent Manufacturing.

Starting from the Shanghai production base for diagnostic pharmaceuticals, GE Healthcare has launched a comprehensive localized manufacturing layout in China, centered in Pudong, Shanghai, radiating across the Yangtze River Delta region, and covering all of China. GE Healthcare stated that its confidence in the Chinese market remains unchanged, and it plans to double its R&D investment in China over the next three years, accelerating innovation twofold.