Collaboration Agreement to Bring Advanced Radiotherapy Equipment to Indonesia

Cancer patients in Indonesia will gain access to sophisticated radiotherapy treatments following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Varian Medical Systems, Inc. (Palo Alto, CA, USA) and Indonesia's first private cancer hospital. Under the MOU, Siloam Hospitals (Jakarta, Indonesia) and Varian have agreed to pursue a collaborative relationship to explore opportunities for developing innovative healthcare solutions for providing world-class cancer treatment in Indonesia.

The signing ceremony was carried out on September 12, 2008, by Tim Guertin, CEO of Varian Medical Systems and Dr. Mochtar Riady, founder of the Lippo Group (Jakarta, Indonesia), watched by John Heffern, deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy, Dr. Gershu Paul, CEO of Siloam Hospitals, and Prof. Susan Tai, president of the Mochtar Riady Institute for Nanotechnology (Jakarta, Indonesia).

Dr. Riady commented on the agreement, "It is wonderful for the Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center [MRCCC] to partner with Varian Medical Systems, which 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. We are very enthusiastic about working with Varian to bring such leading technologies and therapies to Indonesia in our fight against cancer.”

The Building of Hope, which incorporates the MRCCC, is a new 29-story, 210-bed specialist hospital in central Jakarta. One of the top 10 tallest hospitals in the world, it is expected to be a major center of excellence for cancer in the Southeast Asia region when operational in December 2009. "This splendid new facility will be a landmark center and will provide Indonesia cancer patients with much-needed access to the latest and most effective forms of radiotherapy treatment,” said Tim Guertin, president and chief executive officer of Varian Medical Systems. "Varian is delighted to be working with Siloam Hospitals Group to make this very significant project a reality.”

The MRCCC, which plans to acquire two Clinac iX linear accelerators equipped with the country's first On-Board Imager devices that enable targeted image-guided radiotherapy (IGRT), will be the most fully equipped cancer center in Indonesia. IGRT is an extremely precise form of treatment that utilizes multiple imaging and motion management techniques to target tumors precisely and avoid damaging surrounding healthy tissue. Dr. Riady said, "The vision for the MRCCC is to provide an international standard private cancer and specialist hospital in Central Jakarta, using state of the art equipment that incorporates the latest generation of smart IT [information technology] systems.”

Nearly 800,000 people in Indonesia are afflicted with cancer each year but advanced cancer facilities are rare in the country.

Varian Medical Systems is a world-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 major 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.

Siloam Hospitals is investing US$500 million over the next 5-10 years to build 10 new "green-field” hospitals including Kemang Village, Bandung, and Semanggi. The Mochtar Riady Comprehensive Cancer Center at Semanggi in Central Jakarta, when completed by the end of 2009, will be Indonesia's first private Comprehensive Cancer Center and will serve the needs of thousands of Indonesians, many of whom are now traveling overseas for cancer treatments. Siloam Hospitals Lippo Karawaci (SHLK) is located around 20 km from Jakarta and is the first hospital in Indonesia to attain international hospital accreditation from US-based Joint Commission International (JCI).

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Varian Medical Systems
Siloam Hospitals