The FINANCIAL -- GE Capital and GE
Healthcare, the financial services and healthcare divisions of General
Electric Company, announced an investment in Check-Cap,
Ltd., a developer of an ingestible imaging capsule that may help detect
colorectal cancer, according to General Electric Company.
The investment is being made through the GE healthymagination Fund, an equity fund that makes investments in highly promising healthcare technology companies.
Check-Cap’s ingestible and disposable imaging capsule is planned to have the capability to image the colon in 3D. The capsule will require no bowel cleansing before ingestion and no hospital visit, allowing patients to go about their daily routines without having to alter their activities.
The investment is aligned with GE Healthcare’s expanding focus on colon cancer management solutions that can improve healthcare globally, as well as GE’s broader healthymagination initiative, which focuses on reducing cost, increasing patient access and improving quality in healthcare. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer in men and the second in women, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. Almost 60% of the cases occur in developed regions. About 608,000 deaths from colorectal cancer are estimated worldwide annually, accounting for 8% of all cancer deaths and making it the fourth most common cause of death from cancer. In the United States, colorectal cancer is the 3rd most common and the 2nd leading cause of cancer death.
In addition to the financial investment and as part of a broader collaboration, Check-Cap and GE Healthcare have entered into a development and supply agreement where GE Healthcare–Israel will develop, design and produce miniature Cadmium Zinc Telluride diagnostic imaging sensors inside each Check-Cap capsule to enable clinicians to obtain full 360-degree imaging as the capsule travels in the colon. GE has years of experience in the area of CZT-based detectors and similar technologies have been used in GE Healthcare’s nuclear medicine and bone densitometry systems.
The investment in Check-Cap reflects GE Healthcare’s continuing interest in innovative clinical stage healthcare technologies. As an investor, GE Healthcare will look for various ways to work with Check-Cap that complement the strategic objectives of its healthymagination initiative.
Check-Cap plans to introduce its ingestible imaging capsule in the European Union in late 2013, subject to CE Mark regulatory approval. The company also is in discussions with the United States Food & Drug Administration concerning appropriate clinical activities to support approval to market the product in the United States.
The GE healthymagination Fund is part of GE’s $6 billion healthymagination initiative, a global commitment to deliver better healthcare to more people at lower cost.
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