GE Healthcare and Elekta sign global collaboration agreement

GE Healthcare and Elekta aim to meet the major need for radiotherapy solutions across both developed and developing markets

GE Healthcare and Elekta have signed a global commercial collaboration agreement in the field of radiation oncology, enabling the two companies to provide hospitals with a comprehensive offering across imaging and treatment for cancer patients requiring radiation therapy, according to a release issued.

As hospitals increasingly seek flexible and interoperable simulation and guidance technology, GE Healthcare and Elekta aim to meet the major need for radiotherapy solutions across both developed and developing markets.

As many as 50–60 percent of all cancer patients require radiation therapy which requires high-quality imaging and sophisticated delivery equipment and software to precisely target tumours while sparing healthy tissue. Precision imaging is fundamental to determining the size, shape and characteristics of tumours and differentiating between healthy tissues. Delivering the most appropriate dose requires advanced patient positioning, motion management technologies and state-of-the-art techniques such as VMAT or SBRT. Combining GE Healthcare’s imaging solutions with Elekta’s radiation therapy solutions will result in an even more compelling offering for hospitals, and ultimately their patients.

“Access to radiation therapy is a significant challenge in several parts of the globe. We are pleased that this collaboration is a step in the right direction to make more comprehensive precision health solutions more readily available,” said Jan Makela, President & CEO Imaging, GE Healthcare. “Cancer care can only be improved if those in the fieldwork together and this is one of several partnerships that we are pursuing, for the benefit of caregivers and patients, as we build out our Oncology offerings to help enable more precise care.”

Elekta CEO, Gustaf Salford, said: “We are driven by our hospitals and cancer centres’ preferences and their need for comprehensive solutions in effective, efficient and safe cancer care. Therefore, we’re excited about this collaboration with GE Healthcare. We have many mutual health care providers who see clear synergies and advantages with our respective, strong product portfolios. This will allow us to jointly promote solutions for each cancer centre’s needs. Elekta strives to assure that hospitals and cancer centres can create seamless ecosystems that facilitate efficient end-to-end cancer care.”