Varian & Komazawa Establish Radiotherapy Education Center

Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Varian Medical Systems Inc. (NYSE:VAR) , a global provider of radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy and brachytherapy, recently announced a partnership with Komazawa University in Japan to establish an advanced radiotherapy education center equipped with a fully functional Varian TrueBeam medical linear accelerator. The center will be located on the Komazawa campus in Tokyo.

Coming to share price movement, Varian dropped 0.6% to $91.08 following the news. However, a further analysis shows an impressive trend as Varian represents a solid one-year return of almost 12.8%, compared to the S&P 500’s return of 5.8% over the same time frame.

Varian has a long-term expected growth rate of 15% and promises a lucrative earnings yield of 5.38%, much better than the industry average of -3.48%.

Varian’s oncology business growth prospects remain impressive. The company has been addressing tier 1 and mid-tier markets through its Edge, Truebeam and VitalBeam products in delivering patient care.

VARIAN MEDICAL Price

VARIAN MEDICAL Price | VARIAN MEDICAL Quote

Coming to the latest development, the radiotherapy center would utilize Varian’s TrueBeam, Eclipse treatment planning system and the ARIA oncology information system to offer educational courses for students and medical professionals for the delivery of advanced radiotherapy during the treatment of cancer.

In this regard, Varian’s TrueBeam is an advanced radiotherapy system that delivers ‘pinpoint accuracy and precision’ in Cancer Treatment.

Meanwhile, a research report by the Allied Market Research reveals that Japan is the largest contributor to the total Asia Pacific cancer drug market with lung cancer being the major cause of death. Notably, the total healthcare expenditure of Japan was $495 billion in 2013. Banking on such data, we expect Varian to gain considerable traction on the latest development.

Per management, the initiation of a radiotherapy center in Tokyo will maximize the use of technology in the treatment of cancer. The move will also fortify the company’s footprint in Japan, courtesy of the highly advanced expanded educational programs.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

Currently, Varian has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space include HMS Holdings Corp. (NASDAQ:HMSY) , Medidata Solutions Inc. (NASDAQ:MDSO) and IDEXX Laboratories, Inc. (NASDAQ:IDXX) . Notably, HMS Holdings and Medidata Solutions carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) while IDEXX Laboratories sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

HMS Holdings Corp has a long-term expected growth rate of 14.26%. Notably, the company has a solid one-year return of roughly 53.8%.

Medidata Solutions has a strong one-year return of roughly 19.8%. The stock represents a long-term expected growth rate of 22.33%.

IDEXX Laboratories represents a solid one-year return of almost 68.7%. The company has a long-term expected growth rate of almost 14.96%.

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