GE Healthcare, CTSI team up to launch 25 cancer treatment centres

To invest Rs.720 cr during the next five years to roll out units

Bangalore, March 29, 2014 – GE Healthcare and Cancer Treatment Services International have announced plans to launch 25 cancer detection and treatment centres all over India with an investment of Rs.720 crore in the next five years. These centres will have the latest technologies to diagnose and treat cancer, and will be ‘affordable’ , according to company executives.

Both companies did not divulge the cost of diagnosing or treating cancer cases but said that it will be as per standards in developed economies. “Affordable access to healthcare requires a disruption of sorts and this partnership is a step towards that direction,” John Dineen, President and CEO, GE Helathcare told reporters at its Bangalore tech centre. “There is a lack of access to affordable cancer care and with this partnership, we are precisely trying to solve this,” Terri Bresenham, President and CEO GE Healthcare of South Asia.

Hub-and-spoke

GE and CTSI will set up these two dozen cancer centres in a hub-and-spoke fashion, wherein all centres will be linked by technology involving high speed networks, which would ensure that costs involving screening, staging and treatment overheads are lesser than competitors, according to company officials. Also, the diagnostic imaging and treatment devices used in CTSI centres will be GE’s. Other healthcare companies are also seeing an opportunity . In January, NYSE-listed Quest Diagnostics announced that hospitals, physicians and patients across India will now be able to access its affordable cancer diagnostic testing services.

Fortis Healthcare too plans to open high-end medical facilities in Bangalore in the next two years with a capacity of 280 beds, out of which around 210 will be for cancer-care related treatment, say company executives .