GE HealthCare invests $138M in new contrast media manufacturing site amid rising demand
GE HealthCare is investing $138 million (USD) to construct a new contrast media manufacturing site amid rising demand for its products, the company said Friday.
The “state of the art” facility will be in Cork, Ireland, on the same land as the current legacy GE facility. Leaders estimate the hub will generate about 25 million additional does of contrast media annually by the end of 2027.
GE anticipates that the need for iodine-based imaging agents, used for CT, X-ray and interventional procedures, will double over the next 10 years, underlining the importance of this expansion.
“This new facility demonstrates our broader commitment not just to address future demand, but also to increase resiliency and security of industry supply for customers,” Kevin O’Neill, MBA, president and CEO of GE HealthCare’s pharmaceutical diagnostics segment, said in a statement shared Jan. 31.
Last year alone, GE’s Ireland facility—along with other sites in Shanghai, China, and Oslo, Norway—supplied over 100 million contrast doses across the globe. Its new 32,000 square-foot manufacturing site will utilize advanced automation, with GE anticipating “increased flexibility and resiliency” across its contract production network.
All told, GE’s pharmaceutical diagnostics segment employs about 4,000 team members, enabling “four patient procedures every second globally.” Construction commences this month and is expected to create over 250 construction jobs.
“This expansion strengthens our longstanding presence in Cork, where we have a highly skilled team, access to leading talent in the pharmaceutical industry, strong distribution links around the world and a great partnership with [Industrial Development Agency] Ireland,” Eugene Barrett, site leader and managing director, GE HealthCare Ireland, said in the same announcement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.