Singapore: Varian Medical Systems, the world leader in radiotherapy and radiosurgery, is strengthening its leadership position in South Korea by establishing an in-country subsidiary. Varian Medical Systems Korea, based in Seoul, will support the launch and rollout of the company's TrueBeam treatment system while, over time, providing a local base for all the company's business units.

Mr Patrick Joda, global head, customer support services, Varian Medical Systems, said that, "South Korea is a vibrant and growing market and we felt the time was right to establish a local office here in order to provide a higher level of local installation, service and technical support for our customers, particularly the growing number of TrueBeam customers. Longer term, we intend to use the site for an in-country spare parts bank and potentially as a local language training and education base."

"TrueBeam is a comprehensive re-design of linear accelerator technology and as this major new product platform gains wider acceptance in South Korea, Korean customers can now benefit from more extensive local service and technical support," said Mr Joda.

The new office will also provide local support for Seoul-based HDX Corporation, which has distributed Varian's products in South Korea for 30 years. HDX remains the primary sales and distribution channel for all Varian's systems in the country.

With more than 100 linear accelerators installed in South Korea, Varian systems comprise 65 percent of the installed base of treatment machines. The country's first TrueBeam system was installed at ASAN Hospital in Seoul in February this year and is currently providing advanced radiotherapy and radiosurgery treatments for numerous cancer patients, while several other TrueBeam installations are imminent in the country.