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NEWS RELEASE:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
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CEDARA SOFTWARE AND VARIAN MEDICAL SYSTEMS ANNOUNCE LICENSING AGREEMENT FOR CEDARA’S I-RESPONSE™ SOFTWARE FOR ANALYZING TUMOR RESPONSE TO TREATMENT
Varian to offer Cedara I-Response™ software to medical
and
radiation oncology treatment centers
Toronto, ON, May 9, 2007 - Cedara Software, a Merge Healthcare company (NASDAQ: MRGE; TSX: MRG) 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™* 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.
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™) 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.
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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 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 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/ .
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Attn: Beth Frost-Johnson
Merge Healthcare
6737 West Washington St.
Suite 2250
Milwaukee, WI 53214
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| 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 uncertainty created by, the adverse impact on relationships with customers, potential customers, suppliers and investors potentially resulting from, and other risks associated with, the changes in the Company’s senior management; costs, risks and effects of the investigation by the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors; the impact of the restatement of financial statements of the Company and other actions that may be taken or required as a result of such restatement; the Company's inability to timely file reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission; risks associated with the Company's inability to meet the requirements of The NASDAQ Stock Market for continued listing, including possible delisting; costs, risks and effects of legal proceedings and investigations, including the informal, non-public inquiry being conducted by the Securities and Exchange Commission and class action, derivative, and other lawsuits; risks in product and technology development, market acceptance of new products and continuing product demand, the impact of competitive products and pricing, ability to integrate acquisitions, changing economic conditions, credit and payment risks associated with end-user sales, dependence on major customers, dependence on key personnel, and other 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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