GE Healthcare has inked a supply deal with Chile-based mining firm SQM to help the company meet global demand for x-ray and CT imaging contrast media.
The agreement will see SQM increase supply of iodine raw material year-on-year to enable the production of 30 million more patient doses of iodinated contrast media annually by 2025, GE said. GE's new $30 million manufacturing line at its contrast media production facility in Cork, Ireland, also opened this week.
Significant growth in x-ray and CT procedures has increased global demand for iodinated contrast media, which are used to visualize organs, blood vessels, and tissues during imaging procedures, GE said.
The supply deal comes on the heels of contrast media production woes that GE experienced earlier this year with the shutdown of its manufacturing plant in Shanghai, China, due to a COVID-19 outbreak.
