Siemens Healthcare ($SI) and Varian Medical Systems ($VAR) will globally market each other's products, thanks to a new deal both companies inked this week.
Funny how their deal comes after Siemens AG ($SI) said last fall it would selectively exit radiation therapy, after losing market share to Varian ($VAR) and Elekta, among others.
Neither side disclosed financial details. But their agreement covers diagnostic and therapeutic products, and services for cancer devices and equipment to be used with image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. There's also one other component worth watching: Both companies will be developing software interfaces between both of their respective treatment systems and also will consider joint development of new image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery products.
So how will this thing work? Varian said it will market Siemens CT, PET/CT or MRI diagnostic imaging products to radiation oncology clinics globally, expanding later this year to the North American market. Siemens Healthcare, in turn, will market Varian radiotherapy and radiosurgery-related equipment and software to its respective clients.
Both sides, naturally, say the deal will help each company expand its respective offerings. But it also is acknowledgement by Siemens that Varian is a formidable player in the space itself, after years of market share losses in the space to Varian and others.
- read the release