On July 21, 2015 Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: VAR) reported that it has entered into an agreement with New York Proton Management LLC, a consortium of leading New York healthcare institutions including Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Mount Sinai Health System, Montefiore Health System, and ProHEALTH Medical Management, LLC formed to operate The New York Proton Center, the first proton facility in New York State (Press release, InfiMed, JUL 21, 2015, View Source [SID:1234506554]). Varian will provide the center, which will have four treatment rooms and a research room, with its ProBeam system, as well as 10 years of service for approximately $115 million. The center, which will be located in Manhattan, is expected to open for treatment in the first half of 2018.

Schedule your 30 min Free 1stOncology Demo!
Discover why more than 1,500 members use 1stOncology™ to excel in:

Early/Late Stage Pipeline Development - Target Scouting - Clinical Biomarkers - Indication Selection & Expansion - BD&L Contacts - Conference Reports - Combinatorial Drug Settings - Companion Diagnostics - Drug Repositioning - First-in-class Analysis - Competitive Analysis - Deals & Licensing

                  Schedule Your 30 min Free Demo!

Varian expects to book the equipment portion of the order in the fourth quarter of this fiscal year with the remainder of the order to be booked in accordance with the company’s policies over the term of the agreement.

Under an agreement with MM Proton I, LLC, the project developer, Varian’s international subsidiary in Switzerland will provide $91.5 million in project financing, including a six-and-half-year $73 million senior first lien loan at 9 percent interest and a six-and-half-year $18.5 million subordinate loan at up to 13.5 percent interest. Other lenders for the $242.7 million in total project loans include JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. and an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. The project facility is managed by Murphy & McManus, a Boston-based developer of healthcare and life science facilities and Norton Travis of NLT Advisors served as project coordinator on behalf of the consortium.

"We are excited to be part of an innovative and cooperative initiative by leading cancer clinicians to provide patients in the New York area and around the world with the most advanced proton treatment capabilities," said Dow Wilson, Varian president and CEO.

Varian’s ProBeam system with Dynamic Peak Scanning is uniquely capable of high-speed intensity modulated proton therapy (IMPT) which is the most precise form of proton therapy available. The Varian installation will include its ARIA information management system and Eclipse treatment planning software.

Proton therapy makes it possible to treat certain types of cancer more precisely and with potentially fewer side effects than is possible with conventional radiation therapy. With proton therapy, the risk of damage to healthy tissues and potential side effects is reduced because the beam stops and deposits dose within the tumor site rather than passing all the way through the patient. Proton therapy can be used for many of the most common types of cancer. In pediatric patients the risk of developing a new, radiation-induced cancer later in life may be reduced.

Varian’s ProBeam technology is being used to treat patients at the Scripps Proton Therapy Center in San Diego, the Rinecker Proton Therapy Center in Munich, and at the Paul Scherrer Institute in Switzerland. Varian also has contracts for system installations at nine other sites around the world.