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New PETtrace 880 cyclotron offers greater power and record reliability

New TRACERlab FX E Pro and TRACERcenter 710S

SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH — June 6, 2010 — GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is addressing the complexity of establishing radiopharmacy infrastructure as it debuts three solutions -- a high-capacity cyclotron for large-scale radiotracer production, the expansion of its radiopharmacy chemistry synthesis portfolio, and a cost-effective PET radiotracer production infrastructure, at the Society of Nuclear Medicine June 6-10, 2010 in Salt Lake City.

Building upon GE Healthcare’s more than 80-year legacy in radiopharmaceuticals and chemistry, PETtrace 880™ joins the company’s PETtrace family of cyclotrons. The PETtrace 880 offers greater power and record reliability, combined with increased production capacity and tracer portfolio, allowing customers to establish, upgrade and operate their own comprehensive research or clinical PET tracer production center with confidence. GE’s cyclotrons have gained a reputation worldwide for being the most reliable, flexible, and easily upgradeable, from a company recognized as a partner by its customers.

“We continue to push the boundaries of PET radiopharmacy with the introduction of the PETtrace 880, the most powerful PETtrace cyclotron to date,” said Erik Stromqvist, general manager GE Healthcare Cyclotrons.

Expanding upon on its radiopharmacy service platform, GE Healthcare is introducing TRACERlab FX E Pro™, which provides the capability to produce ¹⁸ F tracers via an “electrophilic” pathway with a smaller footprint to maximize hot lab utilization.  Associated with its ¹⁸F₂ gas target, the PETtrace family allows customers to produce tracers such as F-DOPA, F-Tyrosine or F-Uracil.

“We have a history of innovation in radiopharmacy, as a leader in offering complete solutions to tracer development and production,” said Hernan Lara, general manager, GE Healthcare TRACERcenter. 

Expanding upon the TRACERcenter GMP™ platform of advanced instrumentation, comprehensive documentation and GMP training and consulting services, GE Healthcare is introducing TRACERcenter 710S™, a cost effective, upgradeable solution for customers establishing their infrastructure platform for radiotracer research, production or distribution. The TRACERcenter 710S produces tracers for oncology, and offers customers tracer production possibilities with upgrade packages for neurology and cardiology. 

“Our new TRACERcenter 710S offers the same quality PET imaging anywhere in the world,” said Terri Bresenham, vice president of the GE Healthcare Molecular Imaging business. GE helps to simplify the complexities of radiopharmacy and radiotracer production with one single touch-point infrastructure solution that provides full end-to-end capabilities.”

ABOUT GE HEALTHCARE:
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.

Our “healthymagination” vision for the future invites the world to join us on our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs, increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $16 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com.