Varian Medical Systems To Acquire Assets of OpTx Corporation | Varian

{ "pageType": "news-article", "title": "Varian Medical Systems To Acquire Assets of OpTx Corporation", "articleDate": "4 March 2004", "introText": "", "category": "Corporate and Financial Releases" }

Varian Medical Systems To Acquire Assets of OpTx Corporation

Varian Medical Systems To Acquire Assets of OpTx CorporationAcquisition To Add Software For Managing Medical Oncology Treatments to
Varian's VARiS Software Suite for Cancer Treatment Facilities

PALO ALTO, Calif. - March 4, 2004 - Varian Medical Systems,
Inc., (NYSE:VAR) today announced an agreement to acquire the assets of
Denver-based OpTx, a privately-held supplier of software for medical oncology
practices in cancer clinics.  The acquisition will enable Varian to offer
an integrated single software system for managing and coordinating radiation
therapy and chemotherapy routinely used in the treatment of
cancer.   Varian will pay approximately $18 million to acquire the
OpTx assets, including the OpTxTools™ software, which it will continue to
develop, sell, install, and service worldwide as a stand-alone product for
medical oncology practices and as part of its VARiS software for coordination
with radiation oncology.Varian has been selling the OpTx software as VARiS
MedOncology™ under a private label agreement with OpTx since 2001. 
The software enables cancer treatment facilities to document patient data,
manage clinical trials, track complex drug interactions, administer
prescriptions, and schedule treatments for chemotherapy. "By acquiring
this proven software product, we can now integrate it more seamlessly into our
VARiS™ software for radiation therapy," said Richard M. Levy,
Chairman and CEO of Varian Medical Systems.  "This will enable
Varian to provide cancer treatment facilities with software that combines and
manages information including appointments, treatment regimens, and charge
capture for both radiation therapy and chemotherapy within a single electronic
medical record for every patient. "Consistent with our mission of
providing true customer solutions that make cancer treatments better, faster,
easier, and more cost effective, Varian will be able to offer the most
comprehensive management software for modern, multi-modality cancer
treatments," Levy said.  Varian anticipates the acquisition will
initially add annualized revenues of approximately $9 million and be nearly
neutral to earnings for the company in the current fiscal year.  "We
expect that our worldwide sales, service, and support network will contribute
to faster and deeper market penetration for these software products,"
Levy said.  "The OpTx software is now installed in about 40 sites,
primarily in the U.S. and Canada and we believe it to be the best in the
world."About 60 OpTx employees are being offered jobs with Varian, and
the company's facilities in Winnipeg and Edmonton, Canada and in Denver will
be kept substantially intact.    The companies expect to close
the transaction in March.  The transaction is not subject to any
pre-closing regulatory filings.