Subj: FW: GE Healthcare Position on Stem Cell Research 
Date: 4/12/2005 1:56:50 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From: pauline.berardi@corporate.ge.com
To: debi@cogforlife.org
Sent from the Internet (Details)

 

Thank you for your phone call into Investor Relations.   
GE, through its Healthcare business, provides a broad range of products and services to enable healthcare providers to better diagnose, treat and manage patients. This includes expertise in medical imaging, biopharmaceuticals, drug discovery and disease research. The company performs research in these areas in order to advance the state of the art of patient diagnosis and treatment.
 GE Healthcare Position

 

  • GE Healthcare has ongoing research, using both adult-derived stem cells and established embryonic stem (ES) cell lines, to investigate the practicality of developing novel methods of producing human cells that could be used in predictive drug screening applications. Better methods for evaluating drugs for safety (toxicity) and efficacy using human cells, will aid the development of more effective new medicines and could help reduce the need for testing some potential new medicines on animals.

 

  • GE Healthcare continues to conduct research in accordance with US federal guidelines and UK legislation and recommendations regarding stem cell research.  Our ES cell research programs are conducted in line with US federal guidelines recommending that research should employ previously established ES cell lines and adult tissue-derived stem cells. GE Healthcare will not be associated with the primary harvest of human embryo-derived cells or tissues.

 

  • As many different laboratories have now grown established ES cell lines, GE Healthcare will work with recognized experts in this field and use established cell lines that are currently available or may in the future be established in accordance with prevailing US, UK government, or other applicable local guidelines.

 

  • We acknowledge the considerable debate and take very seriously the ethical and societal issues associated with research using stem cells derived from embryonic or foetal tissue. We conduct our research in an ethically and scientifically responsible manner

 

 

We value your continuing interest in GE. 
Pauline M. Berardi
GE
Specialist–Share Owner Information
T 203 373 2475
F 203 373 2071
D *229 2475
3135 Easton Turnpike
Fairfield, CT  06828,  USA