Ready-to-use bag reduces environmental impact of biopharmaceutical production

Chalfont St.Giles — GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), announces the addition of the WAVE Bioreactor™, part of the ReadyToProcess portfolio, to the list of GE ecomagination approved offerings aimed at helping biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies reduce their environmental impact. In order to be recognized as an ecomagination product, WAVE had to undergo a rigorous, third party validated, review process of the operating and environmental improvements it delivers.

The WAVE Bioreactor uses disposable bags in place of permanent stainless steel reactors eliminating the need for cleaning or sterilization. In addition to reducing the amount of water and energy required during the manufacturing process, significant time is saved in the bioreactor preparation. Technologies that enable efficient, flexible and cost-effective production of biopharmaceuticals are vital to increase access and improve the quality of healthcare around the world.

“We’re committed to building a strong portfolio of ecomagination products geared to the needs of our customers around the globe,” said John Dineen, President and CEO of GE Healthcare. “Our expanding portfolio confirms our commitment to finding innovative solutions that tackle energy use and waste reduction, both of which also reduce cost in the system.”

For the equivalent output, a production facility using the WAVE Bioreactor system 500 reduces the consumption of ultra-purified water by over 66,000 liters per year, saves 42% in energy and decreases system turnaround time by more than 1300 hours per year or 92%.

GE ecomagination certification

The ecomagination Product Review (EPR) process provides a third-party verification of claims, quantifying operating and environmental performance benefits that accrue to GE’s customers by using ecomagination products relative to baselines such as competitors’ best products, the installed base of products and regulatory standards. These ecomagination claims can be found in GE’s printed materials and advertisements and on the Web at www.ge.com/ecomagination. Ecomagination products are re-approved regularly to help ensure that claims remain accurate.

To learn more about the WAVE Bioreactor and ecomagination please go to www.ge.ecomagination.com/products/wave_bioreactor_system.html

The WAVE Bioreactor™

The WAVE Bioreactor™ is part of GE Healthcare’s portfolio of ReadyToProcess™ solutions that help increasing the efficiency in biopharmaceutical production. ReadyToProcess enables lean production schemes by eliminating waste activities in daily routines of upstream and downstream processing. Products also include the WAVE Mixer™ with the disposable CellBag™, chromatography columns as well as normal flow capsules and the ReadyMate™ disposable aseptic connectors. The ReadyToProcess portfolio provides maximum flexibility, simplifies and speeds up bioprocessing and is designed for scalable and smooth operations from fermentation through to purification

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 “healthymagination” 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 and efficiency around the world. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $16 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our website at www.gehealthcare.com