Varian Medical Systems, Inc. VAR recently announced an educational partnership with India-based Apollo Hospitals Group, under which Varian will offer training to radiation technologists in the region.
Under the terms of the collaboration, Varian will provide its Access to Care program, which has been designed to bridge the huge gap between increasing demand for advanced radiotherapy equipments and lack of skilled workforce to run the machines.
Varian’s Access to Care program will look to offer expert guidance to radiation therapists and medical physicists. Additionally, medical students will be educated with web-based content from international universities and sophisticated simulation tools which replicate a comprehensive radiotherapy center clinical workflow.
We believe this development is a major step toward improving the radiation therapy landscape in India as the country is not adequately equipped to treat a growing population of cancer patients. Meanwhile, in order to roll out modern equipment in the Indian market, it is necessary to have a skilled workforce.
This collaboration will also help Varian gain market share in India. Upon successful training, caregivers in India are expected to order large number of advanced radiotherapy machines. This is expected to benefit Varian’s top line over the long haul.
We note that that Varian has a successful association with India, so far. In 2012, Varian’s TrueBeam radiotherapy treatment system was first used in the country by Health Care Global (“HCG”) facility, based in Ahmedabad. Again in 2014, Varian’s upgraded Clinac medical linear accelerator was used for the first time in India at Yashoda Cancer Institute – a cancer center based in Hyderabad – for advanced lung, liver and brain radiotherapy treatments.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Currently, Varian carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the medical sector are Masimo MASI, Natus Medical BABY and Olympus Corp OCPNY. All the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).
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