GE Healthcare and Neste Jacobs Form Strategic Alliance

GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, United Kingdom) and Neste Jacobs (Porvoo, Finland), a leading global expert in plasma fractionation plant engineering design and construction, have announced that the companies have formed a strategic alliance to assist countries worldwide to become self-sufficient in the manufacture of blood plasma products.

The alliance will combine GE Healthcare’s expertise in bioprocessing for plasma fractionation with Neste Jacobs’s global bioengineering and construction capabilities. The companies will offer governments and pharmaceutical companies an integrated, cost-competitive “turn-key” approach for the construction of plasma fractionation plants, to help meet the rising worldwide demand for these potentially life-saving treatments. The alliance between the two companies aligns with GE’s healthymagination initiative, which focuses on reducing cost, increasing access, and improving quality in healthcare.

“The alliance with Neste Jacobs means we can combine our expertise and our extensive process equipment, consumables and project management services with the world-class capabilities of one of the foremost engineering companies in this field,” said Olivier Loeillot, general manager of enterprise solutions at GE Healthcare Life Sciences. “We can make it much easier for governments and other healthcare providers to acquire these essential capabilities. This is a big step forward in bringing simple yet vital healthcare to people who, up to now, have been denied these treatments.”

“Neste Jacobs has over 30 years’ experience in the design of plasma fractionation plants, all over the world, and we’re delighted to form this alliance with GE Healthcare,” said Jarmo Suominen, managing director and CEO of Neste Jacobs. “We have a shared vision of bringing an integrated approach to plasma fractionation, to drive efficiency and simplicity in the construction of new plants. Combining the unique competences and know-how of our respective companies will help secure the delivery of turn-key solutions to the plasma products industry including construction of complete green field facilities.”

Human blood plasma is the source of many proteins such as Factor VIII, Factor IX, Immunoglobulin, and Albumin. These protein products, which are prepared from plasma via fractionation, are used to treat a wide variety of often life-threatening conditions such as shock, trauma, infections, immunological disorders, Hemophilia A and B, and other blood disorders. The global demand for blood plasma products is predicted to grow from USD 13 billion in 2009 to an estimated USD 26.5 billion by 2015.

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