General Electric and Eli Lilly Announce Research Collaboration to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease

NISKAYUNA, NY & INDIANAPOLIS, IN -- April 19, 2005 -- General Electric Company (NYSE: GE), through GE Global Research and GE Healthcare, along with Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced a joint research collaboration intended to accelerate the discovery and development of new diagnostics and therapeutics for Alzheimer’s Disease. The research collaboration is intended to focus on beta-amyloid, a protein in the brain that is believed to play a key role in the progression of the disease.

As part of the agreement, GE Healthcare will have access to Lilly’s extensive molecular libraries to search for compounds that would be promising for use in targeted diagnostic imaging agents for Alzheimer’s Disease. Lilly will then have access to any diagnostic agents developed by GE under this collaboration to use in discovery, development and validation of Alzheimer’s Disease therapeutics from the early research phase through clinical trials.

Neurology is a major development area for GE Healthcare. This agreement expands GE Healthcare’s portfolio of Alzheimer’s Diagnostic candidates, which includes Pittsburgh Compound B (PIB), an imaging agent licensed by the company from the University of Pittsburgh in 2003. GE Healthcare is currently developing targeted molecular diagnostics for a variety of neurological diseases, including Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease

By developing diagnostics and therapeutics simultaneously through the collaboration, scientists at both companies can accelerate their progress by sharing molecular libraries, research findings and other resources. “One of the toughest challenges with Alzheimer’s Disease has been to develop a molecular diagnostic to determine objectively if someone has the disease prior to observed mental impairment,” said Scott Donnelly, senior vice president of GE Global Research. “We are confident that this collaboration will result in a definitive molecular diagnostic for this disease that has been long overdue in the medical community.”

“Earlier diagnosis of Alzheimer’s--before the advent of damage in the memory regions of the brain--has the potential to transform the treatment of this disease. A combined diagnostic and therapeutic regimen that would identify people with pre-symptomatic elevated levels of beta-amyloid proteins and plaques in their brain might enable physicians to prescribe a therapeutic to slow or stop the progression of the disease,” said Steven Paul, executive vice president for science and technology and president of Lilly Research Laboratories.

GE Healthcare is helping accelerate the development of new therapeutics by enabling pharmaceutical companies to access cutting-edge diagnostic technologies to assess real-time the impact of potential drugs in the body. “GE Healthcare’s strategy is to develop increased clinical value at the intersection of diagnostics and therapeutics,” said Eric Stahre, Vice President and General Manager of Pharma Enterprise Clients, GE Healthcare. “Moving forward, we look to expand our activities with key pharmaceutical partners across a range of disease areas.”

About GE Healthcare

GE Healthcare provides transformational medical technologies that are shaping a new age of patient care. GE Healthcare’s expertise in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, disease research, drug discovery and biopharmaceuticals is dedicated to detecting disease earlier and tailoring treatment for individual patients. GE Healthcare offers a broad range of services to improve productivity in healthcare and enable healthcare providers to better diagnose, treat and manage patients with conditions such as cancer, Alzheimer’s and cardiovascular diseases.

GE Healthcare is a $14 billion unit of General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) that is headquartered in the United Kingdom. Worldwide, GE Healthcare employs more than 42,500 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

About GE Global Research

GE Global Research is one of the world’s most diversified industrial research organizations, providing innovative technology for all of GE’s (NYSE: GE) businesses. Global Research has been the cornerstone of GE technology for more than 100 years, and is now focused on developing breakthrough innovations in areas such as molecular medicine, alternative energy, nanotechnology, advanced propulsion and security technologies. GE Global Research is headquartered in Niskayuna, New York and has facilities in Bangalore, India; Shanghai, China, and Munich, Germany. Visit Global Research at www.research.ge.com.

About Lilly

Lilly, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers - through medicines and information - for some of the world’s most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly is available at www.lilly.com.

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