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June 18, 2018

GE aims to bring greater productivity to drug discovery with its new high capacity system

By GE Healthcare Life Sciences

Chalfont St Giles, UK — June 18 2018 - GE Healthcare Life Sciences introduces Biacore 8K+, an eight-needle high-sensitivity surface plasmon resonance (SPR) system that is able to automate over 4500 drug candidate–disease target binding experiments in one run. This increases operational efficiency in pharmaceutical discovery and development, quality control, and basic life science research. The Biacore instrument generates high-quality data from interaction experiments (such as specificity, affinity, kinetics, concentration and potency) which, when paired with dedicated ease of use software, helps laboratory managers and scientist to make quick, informed decisions that help progress their drug discovery and development programs.

The field of biotherapeutics is at an exciting point in its development with new generations of therapies coming to market with the potential to treat a range of diseases including cancer. Yet the drug discovery process is growing in difficulty and length. On average, it takes at least ten years for a new medicine to complete the journey from initial discovery to the marketplace. The average cost to research and develop each successful drug is estimated to be $2.6 billion1. With escalating cost pressures and increasingly complex disease targets, improving productivity in early drug discovery has been a challenge. SPR-based label-free systems with higher throughput (i.e. more molecular interactions studied in the same time) help to increase operational efficiency whilst providing the high-quality data needed to inform decision making.

Biacore 8K+ from GE Healthcare Life Sciences is designed to drive operational efficiency and improve time to decision across various stages in drug discovery, development, process optimization and quality control. The large sample hotel can accommodate up to 12 microplates and is temperature-controlled to protect sample and reagents to ensure activity and maintain stability. Biacore Insight Evaluation Software can be paired with the Biacore 8K+ instrument to translate high quality data into actionable insights. Furthermore, an optional GxP Software Package allows Biacore 8K+ to integrate seamlessly into GxP-regulated workflows. Biacore users also gain access to local application experts and a broad portfolio of consumables and method protocols.

To support the pace of innovative new treatments coming to market, we must continue to drive operational efficiency and the generation of high-quality data in early drug discovery work, explains Christel Fenge, Head of R&D, BioProcess at GE Healthcare Life Sciences. The rapid generation and analysis of data using Biacore 8K+ and Biacore Insight Evaluation Software enables our customers/drug discovery teams to move quicker in their decision making and progress the most promising drug candidates for further testing.

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare is the $19 billion healthcare business of GE (NYSE). As a leading provider of medical imaging, patient monitoring, biomanufacturing, cell and gene therapy technology, GE Healthcare enables precision health in diagnostics, therapeutics and monitoring through intelligent devices, applications and services. With over 100 years of experience in the healthcare industry and more than 50,000 employees globally, the company helps improve outcomes more efficiently for patients, healthcare providers, researchers and life sciences companies around the world. Follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and The Pulse for latest news, or visit our website www.gehealthcare.com for more information.

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1Biopharmaceutical Research and Development: The Process Behind New Medicines Accessed May 20 2018.