January 31, 2018 — Varian Medical Systems announced it has signed an agreement to acquire all the outstanding shares of Sirtex Medical Ltd., an Australia-based global life sciences company focused on interventional oncology therapies. Sirtex is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, for A$28 per share in cash. On a fully diluted basis, this represents a total equity purchase price for the acquisition of approximately A$1,585M (approximately US$1,283M). The acquisition has been unanimously approved by the Board of Directors of each company and the Sirtex Board of Directors has agreed to unanimously recommend that Sirtex shareholders approve the transaction, provided that an independent expert, to be retained by Sirtex, considers the transaction to be in the best interests of Sirtex shareholders and in the absence of a superior offer.
Varian said the acquisition of Sirtex, which specializes in radioembolization, expands Varian's addressable market into interventional oncology. Varian expects to leverage its capabilities in treatment planning and delivery, image guidance and processing, oncology practice management software, and radiation safety in combination with Sirtex's interventional oncology platform.
Sirtex's lead product is a targeted internal radiation therapy for certain liver cancers. Approximately 80,000 doses of SIR-Spheres Y-90 resin microspheres have been supplied to treat patients with liver cancer at more than 1,090 medical centers in over 40 countries. It has premarket approval (PMA) from the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), the European Union (CE Mark) and Australia's Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). Sirtex has manufacturing capabilities in the United States, Singapore and Germany.
Sirtex generated annual revenues of A$234mm in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017. Sirtex has approximately 300 employees worldwide and maintains sales and distribution operations primarily in the United States, Europe and Asia.
For more information: www.varian.com, www.sirtex.com