Varian Medical Systems has signed an agreement to acquire Calypso Technologies in a deal worth approximately $10 million.

Varian will acquire Calypso’s portfolio containing 90 current or pending patents, relating to specialised products and software for real-time tracking and motion management during radiosurgery and radiotherapy.

Timothy E. Guertin, President and CEO of Varian, said: “With Calypso's technology, Varian will be able to offer cancer treatment centres real-time, non-ionising tumour tracking tools for enhancing the precision of their treatments.”

It is predicted that the Calypso business will be integrated into Varian's Oncology Systems department and will continue to operate in Seattle, USA.

“We are looking forward to having some of the world's technical thought leaders in tumor tracking from Calypso join with us so that we can work together to develop and deploy this technology for more disease sites,” Mr Guertin added.

Besides the acquisition fee, the deal also requires Varian to pay potential earnouts based on unit sales of Calypso products achieved beyond thresholds over the next 30 months.

The contract is expected to close in early October 2011.

California-based Varian Medical Systems manufactures medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, and brachytherapy, as well as tubes and digital detectors for x-ray imaging.

UK-based corporation GE Healthcare has committed $1 billion over the next five years to developing molecular technologies for cancer diagnosis and imaging.

The investment will affect all regions of GE Healthcare’s global business and reflects the growing importance of molecular diagnostics in supporting targeted and personalised cancer therapies.

In the last seven years, GE Healthcare has strengthened its presence in the oncology field through its acquisition of seven specialist companies, including Clarient in 2010.

John Dineen, GE Healthcare’s President and CEO, said: “As one of the most relevant global cancer diagnostic companies, we are devoting an even greater share of our R&D budget to continue developing new oncology solutions.

“With a disease as complex and multifaceted as cancer, solutions need to be equally multifaceted and even more integrated, combining imaging, molecular diagnostics and healthcare IT.”

“The only way we can help clinicians beat cancer is to give them the tools to find it earlier, stage it better, and quantitatively measure response to therapy,” added Mike Harsh, GE Healthcare’s Chief Technology Officer.

“The integration of GE Healthcare’s expertise in imaging, analytics, diagnostics, cellular analysis, and healthcare IT is helping create technologies and solutions that can be used in a rural developing country or in a modern urban hospital.”

The investment will focus on such new solutions as:

• A new biomarker for molecular diagnostic tests for breast cancer, lung cancer and ovarian cancer, developed by GE’s Clarient business and planned for market launch in 2013.
• A new ‘multiplexing’ technology that could allow pathologists to conduct more than 50 different stains on a single tissue section, enabling more effective personalised treatment recommendations.
• New agents for real-time metabolic imaging based on GE’s C13 technology for tracking tumour growth and response to treatment.
• A new system for connected oncology workflow, MD Connect, which enables access via any networked computer to the complete suite of oncology applications from any location or department. MD Connect integrates with the Eclipse treatment planning platform from Varian Medical Systems.

Based in Chalfont St. Giles, GE Healthcare is a global leader in the development of transformational medical technologies and services focused on reducing costs and increasing patient access.

A new device introduced to the UK can destroy tumours in the brain or the spine without the need for invasive surgery.

The Novalis Tx radiosurgery system, developed by Varian Medical Systems and Brainlab, has been installed in the Christie at Salford Royal Hospital: a new radiotherapy centre for the North West.

The launch of this therapy coincides with the release of new guidelines from the NHS National Cancer Action Team stating that radiosurgery should be available to all suitable cancer patients in England.

Radiosurgery can treat previously inoperable cancers in a single 20-minute session, using beams of radiation shaped to fit the tumour. The short treatment time means that many patients can attend the clinic as outpatients.

The frameless radiosurgery of the Novalis Tx is more patient-friendly than existing radiosurgery systems that require immobilisation of the head by a ring fastened to the skull.

Malignant primary brain tumours reduce life expectancy more than any other cancer, and are the most significant cause of cancer death among young men and women.

Ms Tina Karabatsou, Consultant Neurosurgeon at the Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, said: “One of the fantastic advantages of the new Novalis Tx treatment is we will be able to treat brain conditions we were previously unable to treat, such as tumours really deep in the brain.

“Equally important is the non-invasive nature of treatment, which means treatment sessions can be performed as an outpatient day-case and with significantly less side effects.”

“The launch of the Novalis Tx system is a huge stride towards modernising cancer care in the UK,” said Helen Bulbeck, Director of charity Brainstrust. “This is a great achievement for brain tumour treatment.”

US company Varian Medical Systems is a leading manufacturer of radiotherapy and radiosurgery systems. German company Brainlab produces software-driven medical technologies to support less-invasive treatment.

By the end of 2011, three UK centres will be using the Novalis Tx.

 
Novalis Tx