What happened
Shares of General Electric (GE 0.80%) jumped 16% earlier in the morning, and remain up 9% as of noon EST. The company's healthcare unit announced a multi-year strategic partnership with cancer treatment company GenesisCare.
On top of that, the industrial conglomerate is getting a boost from today's coronavirus vaccine news as a ray of light for its struggling aerospace business.
So what
GE Healthcare and GenesisCare announced a partnership to address the two biggest global healthcare issues: cancer diagnosis and treatment, and cardiovascular care. Heart disease and cancer are the two leading causes of death globally. In the U.S. in 2020, COVID-19 has become the third largest.
Image source: Getty Images.
GE says the agreement includes imaging technologies, digital solutions, clinical education, and services, and is valued at more than $130 million over the next five years.
Now what
GenesisCare has more than 440 treatment centers in the U.S., Spain, Australia, and the U.K. offering radiation therapy, urology, and pulmonology care. The partnership is designed to offer "earlier, faster, and more confident cancer diagnosis," along with more targeted intervention, leading to better results.
GE Healthcare will supply and provide service for CT, MRI, digital mammography, and other equipment at all of the GenesisCare treatment centers. In addition to the agreement, GE says it will separately pursue research activities jointly with GenesisCare for advanced cancer treatments.
GE's business has been impacted in several areas from the COVID-19 pandemic. The healthcare unit is providing some good news today, which, along with positive coronavirus vaccine news, has investors interested in the blue chip stock.
