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U.S. Center Adopts ARAY's CyberKnife

Radiosurgery systems maker, Accuray Inc. (ARAY) announced that U.S.-based Lancaster General Health is the first to use its latest CyberKnife M6 system for treating patients. This unique system is capable of treating large, complicated tumors (which were rendered untreatable earlier), thereby increasing the number of patients who can benefit from this treatment.

The CyberKnife system is a non-invasive alternative to traditional surgery and is the first and only commercially available intelligent robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat solid tumors anywhere in the body.

The CyberKnife M6 FIM and FM Systems feature the unique InCise Multileaf Collimator (“MLC”), specially designed for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) and stereotactic body radiation therapy (:SBRT) treatments. The flexibility of MLC helps deliver precise and accurate radiation dosages from multiple angles in less time, and thus improves the efficacy and treatment outcomes in the field of radiation oncology.

Its special features include a 3D robot, which can revolve around the patient in order to deliver non-isocentric, non-coplanar radiations to match the exact shape of the tumor. The InCise MLC’s capability is further enhanced when combined with CyberKnife's Synchrony System, which allows the CyberKnife M6 System to locate tumors while moving and instantly rectifying for their movement during treatment.

The company had launched the unmatched CyberKnife M6 System at the ASTRO meeting in 2012. The system was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (:FDA) in Nov 2012. In Feb 2013, the European CyberKnife Center Munich-Grosshadern (:ECZM), a global pioneer in radiosurgery, treated the world's first patient with the CyberKnife M6 System.

Our Take

Although we are impressed with the progress in the adoption of Accuray’s CyberKnife M6, a lot needs to be done to bring the company back on track. We remain concerned over Accuray’s declining top and bottom line along with reduced full-year guidance. Management needs to improve its higher-margin product revenues and aggressively remediate its structural issues for new offerings to fully contribute to total sales.

Moreover, Accuray remains susceptible to the weak U.S. and European markets, reimbursement uncertainties and faces stiff challenges from competitive product offerings. The product line faces stiff competition from Varian Medical System’s (VAR) TrueBeam technology.

Accuray has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). While we prefer to avoid the stock, other medical stocks such as Natus Medical (BABY) and Myriad Genetics (MYGN) warrant a look. These stocks carry a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Read the Full Research Report on ARAY

Read the Full Research Report on VAR

Read the Full Research Report on MYGN

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