TORONTO, May 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Cedara Software, a Merge Healthcare company and a leading independent developer of medical software technologies for the global healthcare market, today announced it has concluded a licensing agreement with Varian Medical Systems, giving Varian exclusive global rights to distribute Cedara’s I-Response(TM)* technology within the radiation and medical oncology market. Varian is the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company also supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices.
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Cedara I-Response is a unique tool that quickly and efficiently analyzes how cancerous tumors are responding to treatment. I-Response supports multiple imaging modalities and features patented analysis of fDM (Functional Diffusion Mapping) MR images. It allows professionals to visualize and quantify changes in tumor tissue resulting from cellular and metabolic mechanisms, and then track the data over time. In this way, Cedara I-Response has the potential to precisely monitor the impact of anti-cancer drugs and radiation therapy early in the course of treatment, adding to the information that clinicians can reference when developing personalized treatment plans.
“We are delighted to announce this agreement with Varian Medical Systems,” says Loris Sartor, President of Cedara Software. “Our intention is to forge a long-term strategic relationship in which both companies can leverage expertise to bring leading edge imaging to the oncology market, thereby advancing the state of the art in oncology treatment planning.”
“Cedara I-Response is the perfect complement to Varian’s Dynamic Adaptive Radiation Therapy (DART(TM)) program,” says Corey Zankowski, senior director for Varian’s software business. “It adds sophisticated image analysis capabilities that will help oncologists make the best treatment decisions for their patients. Offering the I-Response technology from Cedara Software to our customers will be an excellent next step for us, and will help to set a new standard for therapeutic assessment in cancer care.”
“The agreement between Cedara and Varian is an excellent example of how leading companies can work together to advance cancer care,” Sartor added. “Cedara brings technological expertise in imaging software, quantification and analysis. With Varian’s leadership in oncology and the broad reach of its marketing and sales organization, this important new oncology tool will now reach clinicians and patients faster and more efficiently.”
* Cedara I-Response has received FDA 510k clearance and the company expects a commercial release in June 2007.
ABOUT CEDARA SOFTWARE
Cedara Software is a Merge Healthcare company focused on the development of customized software solutions and development tools for the medical imaging OEM market. Cedara’s solutions enable OEM companies to accelerate their time-to-market, reduce development costs and access new streams of revenue. Cedara’s software is deployed in hospitals and clinics worldwide and is licensed by many of the world’s leading medical device and healthcare information technology companies. Cedara’s technologies and engineering services span all the major digital imaging modalities and a wide variety of clinical specialties including radiology, orthopaedics, women’s health, oncology, cardiac imaging, clinical trials, imaging for the veterinarian market and more. For additional information, visit our website at http://www.cedara.com.
Merge Healthcare is a market leader in the development and delivery of medical imaging and information management software and services. Our innovative software solutions use leading-edge imaging software technologies that accelerate market delivery for our OEM customers, while our end-user solutions improve our customers’ productivity and enhance the quality of patient care they provide. For additional information, visit our website at http://www.mergehealthcare.com.
ABOUT VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS
Varian Medical Systems, Inc., of Palo Alto, California, is the world’s leading manufacturer of medical devices and software for treating cancer and other medical conditions with radiotherapy, radiosurgery, proton therapy, and brachytherapy. The company supplies informatics software for managing comprehensive cancer clinics, radiotherapy centers and medical oncology practices. Varian is a premier supplier of tubes and digital detectors for X-ray imaging in medical, scientific, and industrial applications and also supplies X-ray imaging products for cargo screening and industrial inspection. Varian Medical Systems employs approximately 3,900 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 56 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.
Except for the historical information herein, the matters discussed in this news release include forward-looking statements that may involve a number of risks and uncertainties. When used in this press release, the words “will,” “believes,” “intends,” “anticipates,” “expects” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the forward-looking statements based on a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the risk factors detailed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as expressly required by the federal securities laws, the Company undertakes no obligation to update such factors or to publicly announce the results of any of the forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect future events, developments, or changed circumstances, or for any other reason.
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CONTACT: Beth Frost-Johnson, Senior Vice President, Marketing, of MergeHealthcare, +1-414-977-4254, marketing@mergehealthcare.com
