GE Healthcare has entered into a marketing collaboration with Tecan, to provide customers with access to both companies’ expertise in lab automation and process development. The agreement will enable process developers to implement specifically-designed protocols and accessories for GE Healthcare’s PreDictor™ 96-well plates on Tecan Freedom EVO® workstations. Automation will reduce hands-on time required for screening of process conditions, freeing up time for scientists to focus on their core tasks and therefore helping to reduce overall time-to-clinic.

The dedicated, predefined protocols and scripts for PreDictor are now embedded within EVOware®, the control software of Tecan Freedom EVO workstations, decreasing the time required for installation and setup. Accessories, including a filter paper holder and the plate shaker PreDictor frame, ensure the efficient, robust and reliable processing of the plates.

“With this collaboration, we have created a powerful solution for process development,” said Eric Willimann, Market Manager Protein Science, Tecan. “The combination of GE Healthcare’s chemistry and Tecan’s hardware will provide our customers with a rapid and efficient method of screening process parameters, with minimal hands-on time.”

“Automated, parallel screening allows the process developer to quickly gain a greater overall understanding of the process,” said Catharina Hemström Nilsson, Market Program Manager, GE Healthcare. “Much more informed decisions can be made for process optimization, substantially shortening time-to-clinic. The data recorded are valuable from a regulatory perspective and help defining a robust manufacturing process.”

The PreDictor plates are part of GE Healthcare’s portfolio of advanced technologies that support the philosophy of lean manufacturing and operational excellence in downstream processing. This is possible by bringing new levels of simplicity, efficiency and economy: resulting in shorter time to market, increased output and reduced costs.

For further information on PreDictor please visit www.gelifesciences.com/predictor.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that are shaping a new age of patient care. Our expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement, drug discovery, and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies is helping clinicians around the world re-imagine new ways to predict, diagnose, inform, treat and monitor disease, so patients can live their lives to the fullest.

GE Healthcare’s broad range of products and services enable healthcare providers to better diagnose and treat cancer, heart disease, neurological diseases and other conditions earlier. Our vision for the future is to enable a new “early health” model of care focused on earlier diagnosis, pre-symptomatic disease detection and disease prevention. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 47,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website.

About Tecan

Tecan (www.tecan.com) is a leading global supplier of laboratory instruments and solutions for the biopharma, forensic and diagnostic industries. The company specializes in the development, production and distribution of automation solutions for life science laboratories. Through its REMP subsidiary (www.remp.com), Tecan is the premier supplier of automated laboratory storage and logistics systems. Tecan’s clients include pharmaceutical and biotech companies, university research departments, diagnostic laboratories and companies as well as forensics laboratories. Founded in Switzerland in 1980, the company has production, research and development sites in both North America and Europe and maintains a sales and service network in 52 countries. In 2007, Tecan achieved sales of CHF 414.4 million (USD 345.3 million; EUR 252.7 million). Registered shares of the Tecan Group are traded on the SWX Swiss Exchange (TK: TECN/Reuters: TECZn.S/Valor: 1210019).