GE Healthcare and Roche Diagnostics Forge Strategic Partnership to Develop Digital Clinical Decision Support Platform for Oncology and Critical Care

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned, January 8, 2018, Eastern Time (ET),GE HealthCare and Roche Diagnostics Announce Long-Term Strategic Partnership, joint development and promotionDigital Clinical Decision Support Solutions, to facilitate faster and more accurate diagnosis. The first step of this collaboration will focus onProviding Personalized Diagnosis and Treatment Plans for Cancer and Critical Care Patients。

It is reported that this collaboration is built on a simple idea:Isolated Data Hinders Healthcare Decision-Making.

GE Healthcare is a global leader in medical imaging equipment, with access to extensive imaging and monitoring data.Roche Diagnostics is a global leader in the field of in vitro diagnostics, possessing extensive data on biomarkers, histopathology, and genomics.If GE and Roche can integrate their generated data into a unified analytics platform, they can help physicians make faster, more informed decisions.

Therefore,The two partners are committed to developing the industry’s first digital platform that leverages advanced analytics to integrate in vivo data from GE devices with in vitro data from Roche, thereby delivering workflow solutions and applications that support clinical decision-making.

The platform seamlessly integrates and analyzes in vivo and in vitro patient data, medical records, best clinical practices, real-time monitoring data, and the latest research findings. It then provides clinicians with comprehensive decision support, enabling them to deliver appropriate treatments and high-quality care to patients.

For example, a multidisciplinary oncology team would have access to a unified branded data dashboard for reviewing, collaborating on, and coordinating treatment plans across all stages of cancer patients’ disease courses. In intensive care settings, patient data from hospital monitoring devices is integrated with biomarker, histopathological, genomic, and sequencing data to help physicians identify and even predict complications before severe adverse events occur.

Currently, oncology nursing and treatment have clearly become one of the most popular applications of precision medicine.

At the end of 2017, the U.S. FDA and CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) announced that they would provide subsidies for physicians using breakthrough tests to identify cancer biomarkers. As numerous IT companies shifted their focus toward the healthcare sector, the Center for Personalized Cancer Therapy at the University of California, San Diego, conducted a test on the startup CureMatch using a supercomputer; the system successfully recommended cancer treatment regimens that had previously eluded physicians.

GE and Roche aim to create co-branded clinical decision support software to help physicians deliver the fastest and most accurate diagnoses for patients in oncology and critical care.The software will extract all types of data generated by GE and Roche medical devices (including patient records, best medical practices, and research findings) and store them in a consolidated repository.Machine Learning。

Nadeem Ishaque, Chief Innovation Officer of GE HealthCare’s Imaging division, cited diagnostic images, pathology, and genomic information from breast cancer patients as a potential use case for this collaboration.

“By leveraging this combined dataset with machine learning and deep learning, the number of unnecessary biopsies prompted by suspicious findings on mammograms may be reduced in the future, and there may also be a decrease in the treatment of ductal carcinoma in situ via mastectomy,” Ishaque said in a statement.

GE Healthcare is the $18 billion healthcare business of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), dedicated to acquiring data through hardware, software, and biotechnology. As a leading provider of medical imaging equipment, GE Healthcare boasts over 100 years of industry experience, employs more than 50,000 people across 100 countries, and is committed to transforming the healthcare industry by delivering enhanced services to healthcare providers and patients.

Regarding this partnership with Roche Diagnostics,GE Healthcare President and CEO Kieran Murphy stated：“This marks the first time that two major players in the healthcare sector have combined advanced analytics with in vivo and in vitro diagnostics. We believe this alliance will help accelerate the delivery of data-driven precision health services to customers, patients, and the healthcare industry.“

It is reported that GE Healthcare is currently undertaking an active portfolio restructuring plan, even halving its dividend to improve liquidity. CEO John Flannery announced in November 2017 that,GE Healthcare will focus exclusively on three core segments—power, aviation, and healthcare equipment—and gradually exit all other businesses.

The partnership with Roche represents a critical step in GE HealthCare’s strategic realignment, potentially reinforcing GE’s leadership position in the healthcare industry. With this strategic collaboration, GE HealthCare is poised to rebound from an industry that has underperformed over the past three months.

Roche is a global pioneer in the pharmaceutical and diagnostics sectors, dedicated to advancing science to improve people's lives. The combined strengths of its medicines and diagnostic technologies have positioned Roche as a leader in personalized healthcare, aiming to deliver the right treatment for each patient in the best possible way. Roche Pharma ranks third in the global pharmaceutical industry, trailing only Novartis and Pfizer. Meanwhile, Roche Diagnostics, although accounting for just 23% of the group’s total business, ranks first worldwide in in vitro diagnostics, unquestionably holding the top spot.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, the Roche Group operates in more than 100 countries worldwide and employs over 94,000 people globally. In 2016, Roche invested CHF 9.9 billion in research and development, with sales reaching CHF 50.6 billion. Roche Diagnostics’ products are used to test blood, other body fluids, and tissues, providing healthcare professionals with the information needed for diagnosis and treatment. In 2013, Roche Diagnostics restructured its operations from five divisions (Professional Diagnostics, Healthcare, Molecular Diagnostics, Tissue Diagnostics, and Applied Science) into four.

Regarding the collaboration with GE Healthcare,Roland Diggelmann, CEO of Roche Diagnostics, stated：““This unique partnership will provide innovative solutions and insights for clinical decision-making. Our goal is to support clinicians and other relevant stakeholders by delivering the right decision support through comprehensive digital products at the right time, thereby benefiting patients.”