Québec to acquire 12 Elekta Versa HD linear accelerators to meet growing need for advanced cancer care
Provincial government to upgrade and standardize its fleet of linear accelerators to deliver precision radiation therapy
QUÉBEC, Canada, February 11, 2020 – Elekta (EKTA-B.ST) announced today that the Québec government’s procurement agency for medical technologies, Groupe d’Approvisionnement Commun de l’Est du Québec (GACEQ), has awarded Elekta an order for 12 Versa HD™ linear accelerators (linacs) over the next five years for an order value of approximately CAD 38.5 million (SEK 275 million). CAD 16 million will be booked in the fourth quarter of Elekta’s fiscal year 2019/20. The remainder will be booked successively over the next two years. Elekta won the contract through a public procurement procedure, subject to a 14-day appeal.
This order is in addition to six Versa HD linacs previously booked in the second quarter of Elekta’s fiscal year 2019/20. In this fiscal year, GACEQ has awarded Elekta a total order value of approximately CAD 56 million (SEK 407 million).
It is widely recognized that more than half of all cancer patients require radiation therapy*. And according to the Quebec Cancer Foundation, 55,600 new cancer cases are diagnosed in the province each year and the number is expected to continue increasing. However, with this order, the province of Quebec is actively meeting the shortage of linacs to treat its inhabitants.
Richard Hausmann, Elekta’s President and CEO, says: “This expansion of radiation therapy devices will have a significant impact on the lives of cancer patients and their families in Québec. It is satisfying to see that the Health Ministry and GACEQ have chosen Elekta’s Versa HD linac, which provides high levels of accuracy, precision and efficiency. Versa allows the hospitals to offer treatment modalities such as stereotactic body radiation therapy and stereotactic radiosurgery, enabling hypofractionation which increases the quality of life for patents.”
The first deliveries are scheduled for the first quarter of Elekta’s fiscal year 2020/21. Initial installations are expected to be at Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Sherbrooke, Hospital Maisonneuve-Rosemont and Centre Intégré de Cancérologie de Laval.
*Radiation therapy and cancer control in developing countries: Can we save more lives?
doi: 10.7150/ijms.17288
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For further information, please contact:
Mattias Thorsson, Head of Corporate Communications and Public Affairs
Tel: +46 70 865 8012, e-mail: Mattias.Thorsson@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
Cecilia Ketels, Head of Investor Relations
Tel: +46 76 611 76 25, e-mail: cecilia.ketels@elekta.com
Time zone: CET: Central European Time
This is information that Elekta AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication at 17:30 CET on February 11, 2020. (REGMAR)
About Elekta
For almost five decades, Elekta has been a leader in precision radiation medicine. Our nearly 4,000 employees worldwide are committed to ensuring everyone in the world with cancer has access to – and benefits from – more precise, personalized radiotherapy treatments. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, Elekta is listed on NASDAQ Stockholm Exchange. Visit elekta.com or follow @Elekta on Twitter.