GE Healthcare and Veran Medical Technologies, Inc. have entered into a strategic alliance to advance and co-develop navigation technologies for interventional procedures to improve the care and management of cancer patients.

Building on the alliance, the GE Healthymagination Fund,  an equity fund that makes investments in highly promising healthcare technology companies, is investing in Veran. The financial terms are not disclosed.

The alliance between the two companies reflects GE’s healthymagination initiative, which focuses on reducing cost, increasing access and improving quality in healthcare.

Veran manufactures the ig4 navigation system which integrates multi-modality information at the point of patient care in the interventional suite and combines that information with electromagnetic tracking of instruments with imbedded sensors.  The ig4 system aims to provide interventional clinicians with the best information at the point when they need it most, when they are steering an instrument inside the human body to perform an oncologic intervention such as cancer biopsy and ablation.   

GE Healthcare is a provider of comprehensive X-ray imaging solutions that give clinicians the tools they need to take image-based diagnosis and minimally invasive therapy to a new level. The strategic alliance between the two businesses combined with expanded capabilities in product research and development will accelerate the development of innovative high-value integrated technologies for the diagnosis and care of patients suspected of cancer.

Earlier this year, GE Healthcare became the exclusive distributor and reseller of Veran’s ig4 Navigation system in the United States.. The ig4 navigation system is compatible with GE’s Innova imaging systems, which acquire CT-like patient images of the target organ(s) that can be exported to the navigation system in the same imaging suite, during the same interventional procedure. The resulting displayed image provides navigation information to help physicians insert biopsy needles, ablation (RF, cryotherapy, and microwave) probes and other devices through the skin more quickly.

According to Hooman Hakami, president and CEO of GE Healthcare’s Interventional Systems business,  the effort is to  develop solutions that enable patients to lead longer and fuller lives.  Veran is a strong strategic fit with this mission, given our common focus on improving quality care by enabling minimally invasive procedures. We have been extremely impressed with Veran’s innovations in navigation technologies, and we see great potential to advance patient care.  The ability to combine GE imaging capabilities with Veran navigation technology provides us the opportunity to further our leadership position in Interventional Oncology by improving workflow and reducing radiation dose.

Jerome Edwards, Veran’s Founder, president and CEO, said that by bringing together their imaging and our navigation system, we can enhance quality of care while also helping to speed procedures and improve access to care. Now, this alliance and financial support will better enable us to develop new technologies designed to address the ongoing need within the IR community.”

The Healthymagination Fund is part of GE’s $6 billion healthymagination initiative, a global commitment to deliver better healthcare to more people at lower cost.   The $250 million Healthymagination Fund targets three broad areas for investment which are Broad-based diagnostics, healthcare information technology and life sciences.