March 26 2008. Chalfont St. Giles, UK and Pearl River, New York, USA, - GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announced today that it has completed the acquisition of VersaMed Corporation, a provider of portable critical care ventilators for respiratory care.  VersaMed’s innovative product offering will expand GE Healthcare’s capabilities in respiratory care management, offering healthcare professionals a wide choice of unique advanced life support ventilators to meet a variety of patient needs and care settings.  Financial terms were not disclosed.

VersaMed develops easy-to-use, high performance portable ventilators applicable to a wide range of care settings.  VersaMed’s flagship product, the iVent201™ ventilator, is an intensive care-grade ventilator designed to be compact and portable, making it ideal for use in hospitals for acute and sub-acute care, in emergency transport and in the home.  The iVent201 has already been selected by a number of governmental and healthcare organizations as a key part of their pandemic and other emergency preparedness plans.  GE Healthcare’s Clinical Systems business is a world class provider of advanced technologies for acute respiratory care.  The strong strategic fit between the two businesses will offer substantial customer benefits through complementary product and service offerings. 

Omar Ishrak, President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Healthcare’s Clinical Systems business unit, said “VersaMed has a strong track record of customer-focused innovation and a product portfolio that is highly complementary to our existing suite of products for respiratory care.  We believe that combining the expertise and knowledge of the two businesses will create significant added value for our customers, bringing new technologies to healthcare professionals worldwide.  Respiratory care is a key area of growth for GE Healthcare and expanding our skill base and product offering in this area supports our vision of helping our customers meet a wide range of needs, wherever the care setting."

Commenting on the acquisition, Jerry Korten, Chief Executive Officer of VersaMed said “The VersaMed team is delighted to be joining GE Healthcare.  The combination of VersaMed with GE Healthcare’s resources and global reach will allow us to accelerate our development programs and bring our innovative products to a much wider customer base.” 

Eyal Dior, President of VersaMed added: “I would like to thank the VersaMed employees who together have successfully grown the company from a mere idea to the strong business it is today.  The combination of the two companies will bring real benefits to healthcare professionals involved in respiratory care”  

###

Note in the United States of America, the iVent 201 is cleared by the FDA for use in the following applications:  hospitals, home, patient transport and emergency/alternate-site care venues.