GenesisCare, a provider of cancer and cardiovascular care, has entered into a strategic partnership with GE Healthcare. Through the partnership agreement, GE will provide $130 million in equipment and services to GenesisCare facilities worldwide.
GenesisCare is comprised of more than 440 cancer and cardiovascular disease treatment centers in Australia, the United States, United Kingdom and Spain. Headquartered in Australia, the healthcare organization has 290 facilities in the U.S., following its acquisition of Florida-based 21st Century Oncology in May.
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The five-year partnership will include GE supplying imaging technologies and digital solutions to GenesisCare facilities in all four countries, a GE Healthcare spokesperson said in an email. This will include the latest computerized tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography/computed tomography, single-photon emission computed tomography, digital mammography and ultrasound equipment.
In addition, GE Healthcare will provide servicing and maintenance for equipment ordered as part of the agreement as well as clinical education services. GenesisCare will place orders for equipment over the five-year period of the agreement.
Further, GE Healthcare and GenesisCare will explore research partnership opportunities spanning education, care pathway development and theranostics, a personalized approach that combines molecular imaging and radiotherapy to treat advanced cancer patients.
“Cancer and heart disease haven’t stopped during this pandemic, and high-quality imaging and diagnosis will be in greater demand than ever as many people begin to feel more comfortable accessing screening services,” Dan Collins, GenesisCare founder and global CEO, said in a statement.
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In the U.S., both cancer and cardiovascular care have experienced significant disruptions as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. A study published in JAMA Network Open in August found that the average weekly number of newly identified cancer patients dropped about 46 percent from the baseline period before the pandemic hit to the early weeks of the pandemic for six cancer types.
Recent data from the 290 GenesisCare cancer treatment locations across the U.S. also show declines in new cancer cases along with an increase in cases of advanced cancers, suggesting patients are delaying their annual cancer screenings and ignoring symptoms.
In addition, a survey of cardiac catheterization laboratories, published in September in the journal Catherization & Cardiovascular Interventions, shows that from March 15 to April 15, median percutaneous coronary intervention volumes dropped by 55 percent, and transcatheter aortic valve replacement volumes dropped by 64 percent compared to volumes in 2019.
“We hope that the combination of GenesisCare’s clinical excellence with GE Healthcare’s medical diagnostic innovation and AI capabilities will positively impact millions of cancer and cardiac patients, and we plan to explore further collaborations to improve cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cardiovascular care,” a GE spokesperson said.
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