A Medical Device Daily

Fujifilm (Stamford, Connecticut) reported that it has entered into an alliance agreement with GE Healthcare (Chalfont St. Giles, United Kingdom). Fujifilm will develop, manufacture and supply advanced biomolecular imaging systems to GE Healthcare. The products will be sold worldwide under the GE brand in the life science research and drug discovery markets.

Life science research has advanced rapidly in recent years with the advent of tools for genomic and protein research such as biomolecular labeling, detection and analysis, Fujifilm said. These technologies have helped reveal the functions of proteins, thereby contributing to scientists' understanding of disease processes. The use of life science instrumentation and reagents in bioscience research is growing, and the demand for new and innovative enabling technologies is expanding, the company noted.

In 1987, Fujifilm was the first company to introduce the digital autoradiography device, which utilized the Imaging Plate, a radiation detector with sensitivity 100 times greater than X-ray film. Since then, Fujifilm says it has used its chemical and optical technologies cultivated in the field of photo imaging to launch a broad range of instruments including CCD camera systems, contributing to the advancement of imaging in genomic and protein research.

In 1923, GE Healthcare introduced the first radioisotope reagents, which initiated the field of biomolecular labeling and detection. Since then, the company noted that it has introduced a series of non-radioactive detection reagents, such as ECL and CyDyes, to enable safe and quantitative biomolecular labeling, detection and analysis. The company's system solutions have radically improved the way scientists can analyze gene and protein expression in tissues and cells.

"This deal represents an important progression for our business," said Yuzo Toda, director, corporate vice president, and general manager of the Life Science Products division at Fujifilm. "By forming the alliance, both companies will make the most of our complementary capabilities to continue to contribute to the advancement of genomic and protein research, and to help enhance the quality of life of people worldwide. GE Healthcare's global presence as a supplier of reagents and instruments, and its competence in biological applications within the life science field combined with Fujifilm's leading imaging technologies, R&D and manufacturing capabilities will provide our customers with comprehensive system solutions for research, drug discovery and bioanalytical applications."

"We are delighted to work with Fujifilm to expand our support to bioscience research in biomolecular imaging system solutions," said Nigel Darby, general manager of biotechnologies, life sciences at GE Healthcare. "Fujifilm's high quality technology platforms fit well with our proprietary labeling technologies and the adjacent fields in the imaging workflow that GE Healthcare currently addresses. Furthermore, the integration of the imaging platform with our global service organization will give strong and valuable customer support."

Fujifilm will supply image-analyzing systems for bioscience research to GE Healthcare, and GE Healthcare will market and sell them under the GE brand.

GE Healthcare will be responsible for marketing/sales of the systems worldwide, and will provide total solutions including instruments, ECL and DIGE labeling reagents, and applications support. Additionally, GE Healthcare will provide instrument services for the systems.

Fujifilm and GE will collaborate to develop image-analyzing systems that are optimized for customer applications.

In other agreements and contracts news:

• MedAssets (Atlanta) reported an agreement with SCI Solutions (Los Gatos, California) to provide extended patient access solutions to help hospitals and health system customers improve the productivity, patient satisfaction and reimbursement as part of their admission process.

The management of patient pre-service processes is critical to ensuring the accuracy of patient insurance and financial information in order to secure net revenue reimbursement, the company said. Through this agreement, MedAssets will promote SCI's comprehensive web-based front-end patient access management tools that include enterprise scheduling and registration, outpatient order management, as well as unique customer self-service solutions. According to the company, these tools complement MedAssets' web-based patient access management solutions, which is intended to help hospitals to accurately estimate patient bills, avoid medical necessity issues, determine Medicaid eligibility and conduct charity screenings as well as standardize processes across all patient access departments.

• The Richmond Academy of Medicine (RAM; Richmond, Virginia) and TSI Healthcare (Chapel Hill, North Carolina) have reported an alliance in which TSI will provide electronic health records, billing systems, and other IT services to members of RAM under a "preferred client" arrangement. Financial details of the new partnership were not released. However, the new agreement includes preferred pricing and additional incentives for physicians seeking the advantages of the 2009 HITECH stimulus bill, the organizations said.

• Precyse Solutions (Wayne, Pennsylvania) a provider of clinical documentation software, workflow tools and consulting services, has signed a two-year consulting and training agreement with IASIS Healthcare (Franklin, Tennessee). The agreement between Precyse and IASIS includes peer-to-peer training regarding quality clinical documentation for IASIS physicians.