Palo Alto, CA-based Varian Medical Systems (NYSE: [[ticker:VAR]]), the supplier of radiation technology for treating cancer patients, said today it has agreed to make a $15 million equity investment in Waltham, MA-based Augmenix to obtain a minority ownership stake in the startup. Varian is also getting an exclusive option to acquire Augmenix if certain milestones are met. Augmenix’s technology is designed to make sure radiation therapy zeroes in exclusively on the prostate for men with prostate cancer, while avoiding healthy tissue nearby, in order to avoid side effects like impotence and incontinence.
Author: Luke Timmerman
Luke is an award-winning journalist specializing in life sciences. He has served as national biotechnology editor for Xconomy and national biotechnology reporter for Bloomberg News. Luke got started covering life sciences at The Seattle Times, where he was the lead reporter on an investigation of doctors who leaked confidential information about clinical trials to investors. The story won the Scripps Howard National Journalism Award and several other national prizes. Luke holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and during the 2005-2006 academic year, he was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT.
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