GE Healthcare's Deal to Boost Supply of Medical Imaging Contrast Agents

Last week, GE Healthcare’s Pharmaceutical Diagnostic business announced that it was re-upping its iodine deal with Sociedad Quimica y Minera de Chile (SQM). The long-term agreement will help GE reach its goal of manufacturing 30 million additional annual doses of contrast media by 2025 and meet the increased demand for iodinated contrast agents.

To support the manufacturing of additional contrast media, GE plans to open a new manufacturing line at its Cork, Ireland, production facility. The new line will cost GE $30 million and is expected to create 140 jobs.

In the company’s announcement Kevin O’Neill, President and CEO of GE Healthcare Pharmaceutical Diagnostics, said, “We expect global demand for iodinated contrast media to double in the next ten years. As an industry leader, we understand our responsibility to help meet this growing demand from customers and patients by investing in production capacity and securing higher volumes of iodine raw material. As one of the largest consumers of iodine globally, we value our longstanding relationship with SQM, an important partner for us.”

The iodinated contrast agents that GE will be making are used for X-ray-based medical imaging procedures, including CT scans, fluoroscopy, angiography, and venography. GE estimates that its medical imaging products are used in more than 100 million procedures every year. The company has also invested almost a quarter billion dollars in contrast media production in the past five years and increased capacity by 50% in the last decade.

GE decided to expand Irish iodinated contrast agent production and increase reliance on SQM after the company was hamstrung by Chinese COVID-19 lockdowns that halted production at a Shanghai plant. As of June 8, 2022, GE Healthcare’s Shanghai facility is operating at 100% capacity, but the shock that accompanied that factory’s closure left the global supply of contrast agents unstable.

FDA officials reacted to the shutdown by relaxing some import regulations and issuing approval for several new contrast agents.

At the beginning of the shortages, the FDA allowed Bracco Diagnostics to import its iodinated contrast agent, Iomeron, to ease the dangerous shortfall in contrast agent availability. Then in September, the Italian-based Bracco received approval for a nervous system contrast agent used in MRIs. Guerbert received approval for a similar treatment that same month. Guerbert and Bracco both host manufacturing plants across Europe and have a distributed network of factories, making them less likely to suffer from production difficulties.