Varian Medical (NYSE:VAR) yesterday topped the consensus earnings forecast on Wall Street with its fiscal first-quarter results, despite a slide into red ink, sending share prices up today in pre-market trading. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company posted losses of -$112.2 million, or -$1.22 per share, on sales of $678.5 million for the three months ended Dec. […]
Radiosurgery/Radiation therapy
AngioDynamics wins FDA fast track for NanoKnife
AngioDynamics (NSDQ:ANGO) yesterday said the FDA granted a fast-track designation for its NanoKnife device for treating Stage III pancreatic cancer. The federal safety watchdog’s Expedited Access Pathway is designed to speed medical devices through the approval process to treat conditions with no available alternatives. The EAP program will transition to the Breakthrough Devices Program once the […]
Guerbet to pay $23.7m for Accurate Medical Therapeutics
Contrast agent-maker Guerbet (EPA:GBT) has inked a €19.5 million ($23.7m USD) deal to acquire Israeli medtech company Accurate Medical Therapeutics. Accurate has developed two series of microcatheters designed for embolization procedures of tumors and vascular aneurysms. The first set of catheters optimize the product’s ability to access hard-to-reach lesions and navigate tortuous vascular networks. The second […]
FDA clears Xcision Medical’s GammaPod breast cancer device
The FDA said today that it granted 510(k) clearance to the GammaPod stereotactic radiotherapy device made by Xcision Medical Systems to treat breast cancer. The federal safety watchdog said the GammaPod is designed to treat a portion of the breast in conjunction with breast-conserving surgery. It uses an array of 36 Cobalt-60 sources to beam radiation […]
Accuray to use $40m term loan to retire senior debt
Accuray (NSDQ:ARAY) said today that it plans to use the $40 million term loan it just took out from MidCap Financial Trust to buy back some of its senior debt notes and lower the amount of its credit revolver with MidCap. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Accuray, which makes radiosurgery devices, said it plans to use the term loan […]
Elekta delays rollout for Unity MR-radiation therapy combo
Elekta (STO:EKTA B) today said it’s delaying the rollout of its Unity device, designed to combine magnetic resonance imaging with a linear accelerator for radiation therapy, saying it needs more time to finalize and validate the linac control system. The Swedish company said the decision means it’s postponing its bid for CE Mark approval in the […]
FDA approves pivotal trial for Insightec’s Exablate Neuro in Parkinson’s
Insightec said today that it won FDA approval for a pivotal trial of its Exablate Neuro device in treating refractory Parkinson’s disease. Haifa, Israel-based Insightec said the the study will evaluate using Exablate Neuro’s MR-guided focused ultrasound to ablate portions of the globus pallidus in the brain, which helps regulate voluntary movement. The trial, led by […]
Brainlab wins FDA nod for Elements Spine, Cranial SRS radiosurgery planning software
Brainlab said today it won FDA clearance for its Elements Spine SRS and Elements Cranial SRS radiosurgery surgical planning software applications. The Munich, Germany-based company said that the Elements Cranial SRS is designed to allow physicians to create radiosurgery plans in less than 15 minutes, supporting plans for numerous cranial indications including arteriovenous malformations, pituitary […]
Varian Medical launches Eclipse 15.5 radiosurgery planning software
Varian Medical (NYSE:VAR) said today it launched the Eclipse 15.5, a new version of its radiotherapy treatment planning software which includes support for its HyperArc high definition radiotherapy system The newly launched Eclipse 15.5 features MCO, which allows clinicians to examine outcomes related to clinical criteria including which organs are spared versus coverage of a targeted tumor, […]
Belgium’s Ion Beam Applications dives on slowing growth
(Reuters) — Belgian proton therapy specialist Ion Beam Applications (EBR:IBAB) lost a third of its $1 billion market value today after it cut its guidance for 2018 and 2019, blaming project delays and increased competition. The company is a leading maker of machines that deliver cancer-fighting proton beams, a super-precise form of radiation, but it has […]
Varian Medical touts 1st commercial use of its HyperArc system
Varian Medical‘s (NYSE:VAR) said today that the 1st patient has been treated with its HyperArc high definition radiotherapy system at Negrar-Verona, Italy’s Sacro Cuore Don Calabria Cancer Care Center. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company’s HyperArc system is designed around its TrueBeam and Edge treatment platform, and delivers more compact radiation doses to fully saturate a […]