Laboratory News

GE and UPMC Target Digital Pathology in New Joint Venture

GE Healthcare (NYSE:GE) and the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced a new joint venture last week with the goal of accelerating the use of digital imaging in pathology. A primary goal of the new company, called Omnyx, LLC, is to replace glass slides and microscopes that pathologists have used for over 125 years with digitized pathology systems UPMC and General Electric Co., of Fairfield, Connecticut, the parent company of GE Healthcare, are each investing $20 million in the venture that will allow doctors to share and transmit digital images of microscopic human tissue. The companies estimate that the market for digitized images in pathology will reach $2 billion per year. GE already makes imaging equipment for radiology and cardiology.

"Pathology imaging is a natural extension that GE would likely want to get into," said Gene Cartwright, Chief Executive Officer of Omnyx. "I think the intent is to provide freedom and generate more of an entrepreneurial environment outside GE or any other big company so we can move more quickly."

Jeffrey Romoff, UPMC's President and CEO, said the deal, "puts together the people-GE-that know the technology and the market with us, who know the science and the patient care."

Commenting on Omnyx the day of the announcement, Dirk Soenksen, CEO of Vista, California-based Aperio Technologies, Inc.  wrote in an e-mail: "Today was a good day for the digital pathology market. Continued references [by General Electric executives] to a $2 billion per year market validates the vision we've had for a long time. GE will not be the last big company to enter this market. In our view, competition is good, and we expect the [digital pathology] market to grow even faster as larger companies help us by spending research and development and marketing dollars to create awareness and help create proof sources."

As Omnyx brings its first digital pathology products to market, it will be competing against Aperio Technologies. Since its launch in 1999, Aperio has enjoyed steady growth. The company says it has an installed base of more than 375 digital pathology systems in 25 countries, including some of the major hospitals, academic centers, and reference laboratories in the United States.

There is another notable fact about Omnyx. It is the first time in General Electric's history that the company has formed a for-profit joint venture with an academic medical center. GE hopes this joint venture will accelerate the development of concepts and technology into market-ready products.  For pathologists and laboratory directors, this new company may answer the question as to how General Electric intends to develop a presence in anatomic pathology and in vitro diagnostics to complement its large market presence in radiology and imaging.

One intriguing aspect to this new joint venture will be how Omnyx develops digitized pathology systems which can do automated primary diagnosis. More details and analysis about Omnyx and its business objectives will be featured in the June 16, 2008, issue of The Dark Report.

For more information:

GE Venture to Develop 'Virtual Microscope'

Nonprofit Pittsburgh Hospital Starts a Company With GE

GE Healthcare, Pittsburgh Medical form venture

UPMC, GE partner in $40 million venture