Varian Acquires CyberHeart

Company Adds Technology for Cardiac Radioablation to Its Radiation Medicine Portfolio

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May 09, 2019, 08:14 ET

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 9, 2019 /PRNewswire/ --

Acquisition Key Highlights

The CyberHeart acquisition secures significant intellectual property/patents that cover the use of radiation in the heart.
Early positive clinical evidence suggests that cardiac radioablation has the potential to offer hope to patients with intractable cardiac arrhythmias.
Acquisitions are a critical step in Varian's long-term strategy to become a global leader in multi-disciplinary, integrated cancer solutions as well as other applications of radiation medicine.

Varian (NYSE: VAR) today announced it has acquired CyberHeart, a privately-held company with intellectual property (IP) that covers the use of radiation in the heart (cardiac radioablation) and other forms of radiosurgery for cardiovascular disease.

"Based on the early positive clinical results in ventricular tachycardia we have seen from other investigators, we believe that this technology can offer hope to cardiac arrhythmia patients," said Dee Khuntia, chief medical officer at Varian. "Cardiac radioablation would truly be a paradigm shift, bringing together two specialties—radiation oncology and cardiac electrophysiology—to collaborate in the treatment of cardiac patients."

"Varian has a long track record of innovations in the field of radiation medicine and has successfully commercialized radiosurgery technology for treating both benign and malignant lesions," said Kolleen Kennedy, president of Varian Proton Solutions & chief growth officer. "We look forward to expanding our focus on patient-centered innovation to the cardiac radioablation space."

First in-human studies of radioablation in the treatment of cardiac arrhythmias have been published in the New England Journal of Medicine¹ and Circulation².

"While cardiac radioablation technologies are not yet approved by the FDA, we feel that the results of these recent early studies are promising enough to warrant investment in this area," Kennedy said. "We're now working to evaluate the CyberHeart IP portfolio and determine priorities for development and clinical trials going forward."

Varian's acquisition of CyberHeart involved the transfer of IP.

¹Cuculich, Phillip S., et al. "Noninvasive cardiac radiation for ablation of ventricular tachycardia." New England Journal of Medicine 377.24 (2017): 2325-2336.

²Robinson, Clifford G., et al. "Phase I/II trial of electrophysiology-guided noninvasive cardiac radioablation for ventricular tachycardia." Circulation 139.3 (2019): 313-321.

About Varian
Varian is a leader in developing and delivering cancer care solutions and is focused on creating a world without fear of cancer. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, Varian employs approximately 7,000 people around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com and follow @VarianMedSys on Twitter.

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SOURCE Varian