Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (NYSE:VAR) recently announced a partnership with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in a bid to enhance cancer treatment. Notably, the tie-up helped the company in making TrueBeam system available to the IAEA’s Dosimetry Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria. This collaboration is likely to drive Varian’s core Oncology business.
Notably, while Varian made the TrueBeam system accessible, the governments of Germany, Switzerland, the United States, the U.K. and the Polish Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology offered in-kind support. This includes a safe bunker to house the facility.
Further Details on TrueBeam Radiotherapy System
The TrueBeam radiotherapy system is an advanced medical linear accelerator, which is fully-integrated for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. Further, the system has been built from scratch to treat targets with improved speed and accuracy.
TrueBeam has the capability to treat cancer anywhere in the body where radiation treatment is indicated — including lung, breast, prostate and head and neck.
Rationale Behind the Tie-Up
The primary objective is to enhance cancer treatment by enabling the hospitals worldwide to provide a much more precise radiotherapy dose rates. With the availability of TrueBeam system, the IAEA’s laboratory’s ability to provide support in the areas of calibration and audit dosimetry services and relevant training is likely to improve.
With the aid of one of the latest technologies in the oncology space, the IAEA facility will help in bolstering procedures in radiation safety and support research in new areas of practice in radiotherapy.
Varian remains optimistic with regard to supporting IAEA and contributing to the expansion of training in radiotherapy. This marks a significant step toward providing better access to high quality cancer care worldwide.
Varian’s core Oncology unit is expected to get a boost as a result of the deal.
Recent Development
On Jun 26, 2019, Varian announced a tie-up with Tennessee Oncology for the implementation of Noona. Notably, Noona is a software application for managing patient symptoms and capturing patient reported outcomes. (Read More: Varian & Tennessee Oncology to Implement Use of Noona).
Market Prospects
According to a report by MarketsandMarkets, the global radiotherapy market is expected to reach $6.8 billion by 2023, up from $5.6 billion in 2018, at a CAGR of 4.1%. Technological advancements in radiotherapy and the rising incidence of cancer are primary factors driving the market.
Hence, the latest development has been a strategic one for Varian.
Price Performance
Over the past year, this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock has advanced 16.3% compared with the industry’s and the S&P 500 index’s growth of 3.3% and 5.1%, respectively.
Key Picks
Some better-ranked stocks from the broader medical space are Penumbra, Inc. (NYSE:PEN) , Oxford Immunotec Global PLC (NASDAQ:OXFD) and Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE:HAE) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
Penumbra has a long-term earnings growth rate of 21.5%.
Oxford Immunotec has a long-term earnings growth rate of 25%.
Haemonetics has a long-term earnings growth rate 13.5%.
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Oxford Immunotec Global PLC (OXFD): Free Stock Analysis Report
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