ECKERT & ZIEGLER BG 
By Seneffe, Belgium, July 5, 2011, Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG (NYSE Euronext: EZBG; Reuters: EZBG.BR; Bloomberg: EZBG:BB), a global leader in brachytherapy, announced today that it will install the latest generation MultiSource® Cobalt-60 HDR afterloader at the St. John's Medical College & Hospital in Bangalore, India, which is generally regarded as being the foremost private medical hospital in India. Thenew version of the treatmfent planning module HDRplus(TM) 3.0 will also be installed.
Professor Mazhar H. Shariff, the Hospital's Head of Radiation Oncology, pronounced that they had chosen a Cobalt-60 HDR system for several reasons: "If you use the Ir-192 source, you have to replace it every 4 to 6 months and this is expensive and tedious. Several senior medical physicists interacting with me assessed that dosimetry is comparable, if not better for Colbal-60 system. We have also signed the contract for a second Cobalt-60 source, therefore saving on procedures for replacement and anticipated price rises. Anyway, I will only have to think about the next source replacement 11 years from now and we may even buy a new system then. My advice for potential new cancer centers is just to go for a Cobalt-60 HDR system from Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG. You and your physicist won't regret it."
St. John's Medical College & Hospital was founded in 1963 by the Catholic Bishops Conference of India. His Holiness Pope John XXIII agreed to the College being called after his patron, St. John the Baptist, as a mark of his personal interest in the project, and of his approval of its aims and ideals. The cornerstone was blessed by His Holiness Pope Paul VI. St. John's is now listed as one of the top medical educational institutions in the country. St. John's is establishing a state-of-the art Cancer Care facility, where the new MultiSource® will be installed within the department of Radiation Oncology, along with a High Energy Linear Accelerator.
The MultiSource® HDR afterloader that will be installed belongs to the latest generation, and was launched earlier this year. It can use either an iridium-192 or a Cobalt-60 source. Because the half-life of Co-60 is 26 times longer than that of Ir-192, a Co-60 source has to be replaced only every five years, reducing costs as well as the problems associated with customs clearance, maintenance, and disposal. Yet Co-60 delivers equal therapeutic benefit. The miniaturized high activity Co-60 source is a proprietary product of Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG. MultiSource® is ideally suited to treat gynecological cancers, prostate, breast, esophageal and lung cancers, and certain cancers of the head and neck.
In addition to the MultiSource®, St. John's Hospital will use the new version of the treatment planning HDRplus(TM) 3.0, an innovative software program for precise and efficient HDR (High Dose Rate) treatment planning that provides its users with functions that considerably simplify and speed up their preparation of the treatment plan.
According to the World Health Organization, cancer rates will continue to rise. More than 70 percent of all cancer deaths occur in low and middle income countries. One reason for this grim death toll is the high cost of the equipment for conventional external beam therapy. Investments for brachytherapy are much lower. When used with Co-60, the new MultiSource® HDR afterloader reduces operating costs by up to 80 percent compared to an Ir-192 system.
"Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG is the only company offering a multiple source HDR afterloader. With our proprietary Co-60 MultiSource® HDR afterloader, we offer a cost-effective solution in the fight against cancer. We have already installed over 170 MultiSource® systems worldwide, and more than 20,000 patients were treated with our systems in 2010," commented Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG's Managing Director Dr. Edgar Löffler.
About Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG
Contributing to saving lives!
Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG is a European-based group active in the medical device segment of the health care industry.
Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG's core business is the treatment of cancer using brachytherapy, a special form of radiation therapy.
Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG is a leader in brachytherapy in Europe. The company headquarters are in Belgium, with a production facility in Germany and subsidiaries throughout Europe and in India. In addition, Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG has a worldwide network of distributors and agents to support the international marketing of its product line.
The company's products and equipment are intended for use by oncologists, radiologists, urologists, and medical physicists.
Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG employs more than 150 people. The company has been listed on the NYSE Euronext stock exchange since April 1997.
Contact
Paul-Emmanuel Goethals
Investor Relations
Tel.: +32.64.520.808
Email: ir@bebig.eu:
mailto:ir@bebig.eu
Website: www.bebig.eu:
http://www.bebig.eu/
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Source: Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG via Thomson Reuters ONE
