On Friday 19 February, the European Commission cleared the proposed acquisition of Varian Medical Systems by Siemens AG, through its subsidiary Siemens Healthineers.
Approval is conditional on full compliance with the commitments offered by Siemens AG to ensure the interoperability of the companies’ medical imaging and radiotherapy solutions with third-party solutions.
Siemens Healthineers is the leading supplier of medical imaging solutions used to support the planning and delivery of radiotherapy.
Varian is the largest supplier of radiotherapy solutions used to plan and deliver radiotherapy treatments.
The Commission had concerns that the transaction as initially notified would have led to the foreclosure of competitors in the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK on the markets for medical imaging and radiotherapy solutions.
To address the competition concerns, Siemens Healthineers has committed to continue to adhere to the de facto industry-wide interoperability standard (the DICOM standard) and to ensure interoperability: - between its medical imaging solutions and rival radiotherapy solutions; - between its radiotherapy solutions and rival imaging solutions, by providing the relevant information and technical assistance to third parties and customers.
These commitments will have an initial duration of 10 years and the Commission may decide to extend them for a further 5 years, if necessary.
More information on this case: http://bit.ly/3pzVZ5d (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)