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GE Healthcare signs MoU with Wadi Jeddah to establish radiopharmaceutical production and PET imaging services facility in Saudi Arabia

Wadi Jeddah to place first order for Discovery PET/CT 710 in the Middle East region
Dubai, UAE; January 25, 2012: GE Healthcare, the healthcare business of GE (NYSE: GE), announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Wadi Jeddah, a Saudi Arabia-based organisation focused on knowledge-based investments, to set up a radiopharmaceutical plant and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) imaging services facility in the Kingdom.

David Carr, General Manager - Molecular Imaging of GE Healthcare, and Dr Turky Abdulmajeed, Chief Executive Officer of Wadi Jeddah, announced the partnership on the sidelines of Arab Health 2012, the premier healthcare exhibition in Dubai.

As per the agreement, the radiopharmaceutical plant and PET imaging services facility will be set up on the Wadi Jeddah lands located within King Abdul Aziz University Hospital campus in Jeddah. GE will extend its expertise in radiopharmaceutical site planning design, supply advanced healthcare equipment for the facility, provide GMP certification support and deliver a comprehensive clinical education solution. As part of the agreement, Wadi Jeddah will place the first order for GE's new Discovery PET/CT 710 in the Middle East region.

David Carr said: "GE is the largest manufacturer of cyclotrons globally, and through our strategic partnership with Wadi Jeddah, we can contribute to developing the market for radiopharmaceutical FDG products in the Western region of the Kingdom. GE Healthcare has a long history of partnerships in Saudi Arabia, and the MoU with Wadi Jeddah, which is focused on value-added investments, will further enable the Kingdom to address the growing requirements for diagnostic services. The partnership also complements our healthyimagination commitment, which aims to provide greater access to high quality medical care for more people at lower costs."

Dr Turky Abdulmajeed said: "Wadi Jeddah is committed to creating an integrated portfolio of knowledge-based businesses to establish Saudi Arabia as a true knowledge economy. As a part of the King Abdul Aziz University, we are focused on building strong partnerships between the university and the private and public sectors, to develop solutions that help the entire Saudi society. The MoU with GE Healthcare to develop a radiopharmaceutical plant and PET imaging facility will significantly elevate the level of medical care that we can provide here, especially to address the incidence of lifestyle diseases through early diagnosis and treatment. Wadi Jeddah is going to establish its first Cyclotron and PET center in Jeddah and is planning to expand further in to other regions such as Makkah, Madinah, Abha, Taif, and Tabuk. It is Wadi Jeddah's goal to support all interested health care facilities in the region."

The new facility also addresses a pressing requirement of the Western Region, where access to PET imaging has been constrained by the lack of radiopharmaceuticals. The new solution will thus enhance access for the public to advanced healthcare solutions that promote early diagnosis.

Wadi Jeddah plans to conduct research in the sector in partnership with GE Healthcare to further strengthen the knowledge base of the Kingdom and to promote innovation in healthcare, leveraging the resources and capabilities of King Abdul Aziz University.

Dr Khaled El Safi, a physicist, will spearhead the project as well as the MI facility. "Our vision is to utilize this opportunity to recruit and train talented Saudi professionals and academicians to be part of this high tech industry, which will contribute to establishing the Kingdom's thought leadership in advanced medical research."

GE Healthcare has a strong presence in Saudi Arabia since more than 25 years, and employs over 200 skilled professionals. The operations of GE Healthcare in the Kingdom are aligned with the Saudi Vision 2020 that aims to provide higher levels of healthcare for the population. With over 10,000 GE healthcare technologies serving nearly 90 percent hospitals, GE has also been working with the Ministry of Health to help build a sustainable healthcare model under healthy imagination.

-Ends-

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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 "healthy imagination" 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 around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employees are committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit www.gehealthcare.com.

Allison Cohen
GE Healthcare
allison.cohen@ge.com

Kelly Home / Nivine William
ASDA'A Burson-Marsteller
+9714 450 7600
k.home@asdaa.com / n.william@asdaa.com

© Press Release 2012