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Cytori and GE
Healthcare form partnership to commercialize StemSource products in the U.S.
Chalfont St. Giles, UK, April 29th, 2009 –
Cytori Therapeutics (NASDAQ: CYTX) and GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric
Company (NYSE: GE), today announce an agreement by which GE Healthcare will
commercialize Cytori’s StemSource® technology in the North American stem cell
banking and research markets. The StemSource technology includes automated
equipment to process stem and regenerative cells found in adipose tissue,
cryopreserve them or use them directly for research purposes.
In January 2009, Cytori and GE Healthcare formed a separate agreement to
commercialize Cytori’s products in ten European countries. This includes selling
the Celution® 800/CRS System in the European cosmetic and reconstructive surgery
market as well as selling StemSource products in the European cell banking and
research markets.
“Expanding our commercialization partnership into North America will allow us to
take advantage of GE Healthcare’s established stem cell banking and research
customer-base,” said Christopher J. Calhoun, chief executive officer for Cytori
Therapeutics. “Both organizations recognize there is an existing demand in the
United States for these products and we look forward to making the StemSource
technology available in the U.S. in the first half of 2009.”
The partnership entered into today is similar in nature to the European
agreement, but is limited to the sale of StemSource banking and research
products in the U.S., Canada and Mexico for 18 months starting in the second
quarter of 2009. Today’s agreement does not include U.S. commercialization of
Cytori’s Celution System, which is currently under review by the FDA.
“This agreement between GE Healthcare and Cytori is important for our growing
life sciences business,” says Konstantin Fiedler, general manager, Cell
Technologies at GE Healthcare. "Our U.S. sales team, like that in Europe, is
seeing growing customer demand for adipose related cell technology, both from
our existing stem cell banking customers as well as our research customers
involved in the development of cell therapies. An expanded partnership with
Cytori gives our US sales team access to these first-in-class products for these
markets in the U.S.”
-ENDS-
About Cytori
Cytori Therapeutics, Inc. manufactures, develops, and internationally
commercializes innovative medical technologies, which allow physicians to
practice regenerative medicine. Commercial activities are currently focused on
marketing the Celution® cell processing system and related family of products
across three areas. The first is cosmetic and reconstructive surgery in Europe
and Asia-Pacific. The second is to fulfill the demand among physicians in Europe
and Asia Pacific for access to clinical grade stem and regenerative cells. The
third is to market the Celution®-based StemSource® Cell Bank worldwide to
hospitals and tissue banks so they can in turn offer patients the opportunity to
cryopreserve their own adipose-derive stem and regenerative cells.
www.cytoritx.com
About GE Healthcare
GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies and services that
are shaping a new age of patient care. Our broad expertise in medical imaging
and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems,
drug discovery, biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies, performance
improvement and performance solutions services help our customers to deliver
better care to more people around the world at a lower cost. In addition, we
partner with healthcare leaders, striving to leverage the global policy change
necessary to implement a successful shift to sustainable healthcare systems.
Our "healthymagination" vision for the future invites the world to join us on
our journey as we continuously develop innovations focused on reducing costs,
increasing access and improving quality and efficiency around the world.
Headquartered in the United Kingdom, GE Healthcare is a $17 billion unit of
General Electric Company (NYSE: GE). Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than
46,000 people committed to serving healthcare professionals and their patients
in more than 100 countries. For more information about GE Healthcare, visit our
website at www.gehealthcare.com
Contact
GE Healthcare
Conor McKechnie
+44 1494 498 276
conor.mckechnie@ge.com
College Hill
Dr Lynne Trowbridge, Dr Marc Egelhofer,
Rebecca Walker
+44 20 7457 2020
ge-corporate@collegehill.com
Cytori
Tom Baker
Investor & Media
+ 1 858.875.5258
tbaker@cytoritx.com
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