GE Healthcare has created an imaging equipment production joint venture with Russian Technologies, a state company involved in the development, production, and export of high-tech industrial products.
The joint venture will manufacture, assemble, sell, and service a wide range of high-tech medical diagnostic equipment, according to GE. It will begin with the production of CT scanners, then expand to other diagnostic equipment such as angiography, MRI, ultrasound, digital x-ray, PET, and gamma cameras, according to the vendor.
The joint venture will assemble products in Russia using components from GE international facilities and, over time, will source parts from qualified Russian suppliers, according to GE. GE said it will exercise operational control, with shared decision-making by both partners on strategic matters. GE will hold 50% of the joint venture, which may utilize the recently established GE Healthcare - Medical Technologies CT scanner assembly facility in Moscow.
GE installed its first Russian-assembled 16-slice scanner in May 2010, and said it plans to supply more than 60 more systems by the end of 2011. The Russian government plans to spend more than $30 billion (U.S.) on healthcare from 2011 to 2014, and GE said it estimates current Russian demand for CT scanners alone to be 3,000 units.
