GE HealthCare Technologies executives surprised investment analysts July 25 with news that the company’s imaging product business, which has a major presence in metro Milwaukee, is likely to see increased sales related to products necessary for new Alzheimer’s treatment regimes.
“We believe that this is a pretty profound growth opportunity across the space, but time will tell how that ultimately plays out,” CEO Peter Arduini told analysts on the company’s second-quarter earnings call.
Clinicians already diagnose Alzheimer’s using GE HealthCare products including the Signa PET/MR and Omni Legend PET/CT scanners, the company said. With new Alzheimer’s therapies, products like those GE HealthCare manufactures also will be used in assessment, treatment and monitoring, the company said.
“Think of us as the company that facilitates, so to speak, the management of the disease,” Arduini said.
Arduini cited the recent U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval of Lecanemab (brand name Leqembi) as a treatment for early Alzheimer’s. Company executives also are encouraged that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is considering coverage for patients who undergo PET scans of beta amyloid plaque.
Arduini said it’s too early to predict the size of the new business opportunity. He said it could start boosting the company’s revenue in 2024 “depending on the uptake” of Leqembi.
The company’s prospects for adding Alzheimer’s-related revenue increases in 2024, 2025 and 2026, Arduini said.
GE HealthCare says that if reimbursement of these therapies follows, within a few years, the company estimates increases of up to 1.25 million MRI scans and more than 500,000 PET amyloid brain scans globally.
GE HealthCare’s Vizamyl is one of three amyloid PET tracers available to detect, quantify and visualize beta amyloid in the brain for the diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease. Vizamyl is a radioactive diagnostic agent.
"We're super optimistic, I think first for patients and their families and then second, the opportunity that that we can play,” he said.
GE HealthCare Milwaukee-area locations involved in the imaging business include its plant in West Milwaukee and its plant and offices in Waukesha.
