As part of the Wisconsin Biohealth Tech Hub,
GE HealthCare provides clinicians with the necessary technology for theranostics treatment and advancement.
Theranostics, a form of personalized medicine, combines therapy and diagnostics to treat cancer. Personalized medicine is an emerging practice that uses an individual’s genetic profile to guide decisions about prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases such as cancer.
The Wisconsin BioHealth Tech Hub’s consortium of 18 member companies or institutions – which include GE HealthCare, the Medical College of Wisconsin, BioForward Wisconsin, Exact Sciences, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Rockwell Automation and more – are driving a collaborative effort to advance personalized medicine.
BizTimes reporter Samantha Dietel spoke to
Jay Hill, vice president of advanced technology at GE HealthCare, about the company’s role in advancing theranostics. Hill helps lead research and development planning, technology research and advanced technology development at GE. To read more about personalized medicine and its potential future impact, check out
Dietel’s recent coverage on the strides MCW is making to advance theranostics and gene therapy.
BizTimes: What work is GE HealthCare doing through the biohealth tech hub to advance theranostics?
Hill: “In 2023, Wisconsin achieved a significant milestone by receiving both the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Regional Technology and Innovation Hub (Tech Hub) designation. GE HealthCare, UW-Madison, and the Medical College of Wisconsin are members of Wisconsin’s public-private consortium, led by BioForward, that helped secure the designation. The Tech Hub designation also allowed the consortium to apply for funding for projects that help spur economic growth in the region and is a testament to Wisconsin’s leadership in the biohealth industry.
“We’re excited about the potential impact of theranostics on personalized medicine. Theranostics is a unique and promising addition to the library of treatment options, especially for certain cancers. Using precision medicine and imaging technology, this approach can help clinicians identify patients with certain disease factors that are more likely to respond to targeted therapies. We also plan to bring a focus on AI and digital solutions across the care continuum, which could help enable clinicians to analyze vast amounts of data (such as imaging, labs, genomics, medical history, etc.) and provide more precise care for patients.
“GE HealthCare has a long and productive partnership with the UW-Madison School of Medicine and Public Health and the Medical College of Wisconsin. Together we are working to help develop new curative cancer therapies through the Tech Hub and beyond. We recently shipped our 100th Omni Legend PET/CT system to UW to help clinicians monitor new therapies. The delivery of this new system also encourages our collaboration across various areas of theranostics.”
Mara Lord, chief strategy and growth officer at MCW, mentioned that GE HealthCare provides the radiopharmaceuticals/imaging diagnostics involved in theranostics. What more can you tell me about why this is significant?
“With more than 10 million new cases diagnosed each year worldwide, cancer remains one of the most urgent global health concerns. With advances in precision diagnostics and treatment options enabled with theranostics, GE HealthCare is helping lead the charge away from the traditional one-size-fits-all approach to cancer care and making connected, personalized, precision care a reality for clinicians and patients.
“Theranostics is a branch of nuclear medicine that uses molecular imaging and targeted radionuclide therapies aimed at the same biological target to treat cancer in the body. These therapeutic and diagnostic technologies work together to enable a personalized, highly precise, patient-centric approach to medical diagnosis and treatment.
“Using specific targeting compounds for both imaging and therapy – as well as new and evolving digital and AI solutions to help our customers increase accuracy and efficiency – this transformative approach is the future of cancer treatment, giving hope to patients and their loved ones, and the potential for an improved quality of life.
“GE HealthCare has the unique ability to provide solutions along every step of the theranostics care pathway. Our integrated portfolio of solutions provides clinicians with the isotopes, imaging, informatics and molecular imaging agents necessary for the practice and advancement of precision care. Our solutions help clinicians diagnose individuals with advanced diseases, like metastatic castrate resistant prostate cancer in patients who have typically tried and failed on previous lines of therapy.”
When did GE HealthCare start providing the radiopharmaceuticals/imaging diagnostics involved in theranostics? Essentially, how long has GE HealthCare been working on this?
“GE HealthCare has been working with industry leaders to advance theranostics for years. We are proud to offer one of the largest and most comprehensive portfolios that support the growth of theranostics. Our technologies include tracer production, imaging and digital tools focused on speed, accuracy and adaptability. We provide unique solutions for radioisotope research and large-scale production and offer a pipeline of clinical-stage imaging agents to serve as companion diagnostics for future targeted radionuclide therapies.”
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