Varian Medical Systems, Inc.’s (VAR) RapidPlan knowledge-based software was used for the first time in radiotherapy treatment planning at the Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford, England. The software was used to plan and guide the treatment process of a 76-year-old man suffering from prostrate cancer.
Specialists at the hospital planned the patient's treatment both traditionally and using RapidPlan. A comparison of the two methods demonstrated that the RapidPlan treatment produced better dose delivery and beam modulation. It also greatly speeded up the planning process by automating the selection of planning parameters.
RapidPlan is seamlessly integrated with Varian's Eclipse treatment planning software and can be used to plan virtually every type of external beam radiotherapy. This includes intensity-modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), RapidArc radiotherapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy.
Varian’s new software provides users with access to a knowledge base with standard-of-care models developed by leading practitioners. The models can also be shared among colleagues within a care network to create a practice standard.
Showcased for the first time at the annual meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Atlanta in Sep 2013, RapidPlan allows clinical professionals to offer advanced forms of radiotherapy with both speed and precision. Notably, the software received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the month following its launch.
The company is witnessing an uptake in its RapidPlan software product as reflected by a sharp increase in orders for this product in fourth–quarter fiscal 2014, reported in Oct 2014.
Varian has varied new software and service offerings which include TrueBeam and Edge platforms, InSightive Analytics, ARIA oncology information system and Proton planning. We believe that the company’s new cloud-based software and data analytics tools will create the opportunity to double its software business over the next few years.
Varian has around $1 billion of revenue opportunity from its various Oncology and Imaging Component products over the next five years.
However, the oncology business in North America is witnessing a drop in capital expenditure on account of uncertainty emanating from health care reforms and anticipated changes in reimbursement. Additionally, market trends in Europe continue to remain sluggish.
Although international sales as percentage of revenues is increasing, the higher demand for lower-margin products from China, India and Brazil is expected to keep margins under pressure over the next several quarters. Pricing pressure in traditional radiotherapy also raises concern.
Moreover, Varian faces intense competition from the likes of PerkinElmer, Inc. (PKI), Siemens and Philips (PHG) as well as smaller and more specialized radiation therapy equipment manufacturers like Elekta AB and Accuray (ARAY).
Currently, Varian carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
Get all Zacks Research Reports and be alerted to fast-breaking buy and sell opportunities every trading day.
Be the first to comment