Varian Medical Systems to Develop Interface Between the ARIA(TM) Oncology Information System and the Monarch250(TM) Proton Radiotherapy System From Still River Systems

PALO ALTO, Calif., May 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Varian Medical Systems and Still River Systems, Inc. today announced an agreement to develop an interface between Varian's ARIA(TM) Oncology Information System and Still River's Monarch250(TM) Proton Beam Radiotherapy (PBRT) System.

"ARIA is a powerful oncology information system that manages the clinical processes unique to radiotherapy treatments for cancer," said Corey Zankowski, Varian's senior director for product management. "In addition to providing a complete electronic medical record for oncology, ARIA is exceptional at recording and verifying the numerous treatment parameters and instruction sets required for complex radiotherapy treatments. Varian is committed to creating a completely open environment and ensuring connectivity between ARIA and most commonly-used radiation delivery devices, including proton treatment systems. As such, Varian is pleased to be developing, with the support of Still River, an interface with the Monarch250 proton therapy system."

"It is Varian's aim to bring the familiar workflow, look and feel of ARIA into the proton environment, to ease the transition of staff from conventional radiotherapy to proton therapy," adds James DeFilippi, Varian's business manager for integrated proton solutions.

Still River Systems will provide technical assistance to Varian engineers, who will develop the interface to allow important "record and verify" functionality across the two systems.

"We are developing the Monarch250 proton therapy system to support existing clinical processes. The Monarch250 ARIA interface will allow cancer centers to integrate proton therapy within their existing radiation therapy practices," adds Skip Rosenthal, PhD, Still River Systems vice president, clinical systems.

Any new ARIA interface that facilitates "record and verify" functions with new radiotherapy delivery technologies are subject to 510(k) clearance by the FDA, and would need such clearance prior to any clinical deployment.

About Still River Systems

Still River Systems, based in Littleton, Massachusetts, is dedicated to providing physicians and their patients access to high quality, cost-effective proton therapy solutions, and to help establish this superior treatment modality as a standard of care for patients worldwide. Still River Systems is developing the Monarch250, an affordable, precise and compact proton therapy system for cancer treatment. This system has not yet been cleared by the FDA for commercial use in clinical therapy. For more information on Still River Systems and the Monarch250 Proton Therapy System, please call 978-540- 1500 or visit their website @ http://www.stillriversystems.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 4,600 people who are located at manufacturing sites in North America and Europe and in its 60 sales and support offices around the world. For more information, visit http://www.varian.com/.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which provides a "safe harbor" for these types of statements. These forward-looking statements regarding future business, events, plans, objectives, expectations, and other similar matters, including, but not limited to, statements using the terms "is committed to creating," "ensuring," and "are developing," "will allow," and "would need" are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results of Varian Medical Systems, Inc. to differ materially from management's current expectations. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, product demand and market acceptance risks; technological innovation, development of new generation of products and enhancements to existing products; the ability to procure appropriate FDA clearances for new products; and other risks detailed in Varian Medical Systems, Inc. filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Varian Medical Systems, Inc. assumes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact: Meryl Ginsberg Varian Medical Systems 650-424-6444 meryl.ginsberg@varian.com