RaySearch Laboratories AB (publ) announces that a letter of intent has been concluded with Royal Philips Electronics to sign a long-term development- and license agreement pertaining to new products within adaptive radiation therapy, which is considered to be the next technology leap within radiotherapy for cancer. RaySearch and Philips already conduct extensive research and development within the area. Through the joint project to develop products for adaptive radiation therapy, the companies will secure their positions as leaders in the field.
Since 2000, RaySearch and Philips have had a well-established cooperation within intensity modulated radiation therapy (IMRT). In IMRT, the patient is treated with dose distributions that are tailored to the tumor volume. This improves treatment quality significantly, but to achieve an even better treatment result, software is required to effectively avoid and deal with the problems that can arise due to geometrical uncertainties. By taking measurements during the course of treatment of the changeable patient geometry, and feeding back the information, treatment can be corrected so that errors can be avoided and dealt with. This approach is known as adaptive radiation therapy or IGRT (Image Guided Radiation Therapy). Today there exist radiation treatment machines with integrated computed tomography that are well suited to this form of feedback and demand is rising for treatment planning systems that support adaptive radiation therapy. Philips and RaySearch now intend to sign a license agreement within adaptive radiation therapy which involves a suite of advanced products. The parties have a long-standing running research collaboration in the field and a prototype of a module for adaptive radiation therapy has been produced. The prototype was exhibited in October 2004 at one of the largest international congresses, ASTRO. The license agreement will mean that RaySearch and Philips enter into a new product-oriented phase of cooperation, at the same time as the joint research continues. “Adaptive radiation therapy will be the major development area in the future. This new technology will increase the geometrical precision by taking into account changes in the patient’s anatomy during the actual treatment. This means that the effectiveness and safety of treatments can be further enhanced,” says Johan Löf, President and CEO of RaySearch Laboratories. “RaySearch and Philips have strong ambitions within the area of adaptive radiation therapy. Accordingly, it is very pleasing that we have now agreed to initiate this cooperation.” RaySearch and Philips began cooperation within the development of IMRT products already in 2000. The first product, RayOptimizer, was integrated in Philips’ Pinnacle treatment planning system and was introduced clinically in 2001. Later, the two add-on products RayMachine and RayBiology were released and sales of all three products have been proceeding successfully since last year. Philips has a world-leading position in treatment planning, with the world’s largest installed customer base. The number of sold and delivered RayOptimizer licenses is in the range of 1,200. About Royal Philips Electronics Royal Philips Electronics is Europe’s largest and one of the world’s leading electronics companies, with sales in 2004 of EUR 30 billion. The company is world leading in color TVs, lighting, electric shavers, color tubes for TV and imaging displays, medical diagnostics and patient monitoring and components for single-chip TVs. The company’s 165,300 employees in more than 60 countries work within lighting, consumer products, domestic and personal care appliances, semiconductors and medical systems. Philips is listed on the stock markets in New York (symbol: PHG), London, Frankfurt, Amsterdam and others. More information is available at www.philips.com/newscenter About RaySearch RaySearch develops and sells software for radiation therapy for cancer treatment. The products are specially developed to optimize radiation therapy and the purpose is to adapt the radiation dose to the contours of the tumor, which allows high doses to be delivered to the tumor while minimizing the dose to surrounding healthy tissue. RaySearch, a spin-off from Karolinska Institutet, was formed in 2000. RaySearch has sold its product RayOptimizer to more than 800 hospitals around the world through a licensing agreement with Philips, enabling tens of thousands of patients to receive improved radiation therapy. RaySearch was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange O-list in November 2003. Sales of the products RayBiology and RayMachine began in 2004 and the partnership with Philips continues. RaySearch signed a licensing agreement with Nucletron in January 2004. Delivery to clinics of the first product based on the partnership with Nucletron, OM-Optimizer, began in April 2005. RaySearch is based in Stockholm and currently has 26 employees. Company’s website: www.raysearchlabs.com For further information, contact: Johan Löf President and CEO, RaySearch Laboratories AB +46 8 545 061 30 johan.lof@raysearchlabs.com