Siemens Consortium to Construct Particle Therapy Center at the University Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein

MALVERN, Pa. (Map) - MALVERN, Pa., March 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Siemens Healthcare (http://www.siemens.com/healthcare) announces that the University Clinic of Schleswig-Holstein (UC S-H) commissioned a consortium of bidders, including Siemens, Bilfinger Berger and HSG Technischer Service, with the construction and operation of the first particle therapy center (PTC) in Northern Germany. With overall costs of approximately 250 million euros, this represents the largest public private partnership project (PPP) ever launched in the German healthcare sector.

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As a competence center for tumor diseases, the PTC will be opening up new treatment possibilities for cancer therapy starting in 2012. In addition to Northern Germany, the center is intended to serve the entire Southern Scandinavian region. In its final stage of completion, the facility's three treatment rooms will be capable of treating approximately 3,000 patients with particles per year.

The contract concluded between the consortium of bidders and the UC S-H includes the financing, construction, technical operation, and maintenance of the particle therapy facility in a public private partnership over a period of 25 years. To implement this project, the sponsors, Siemens Project Ventures and Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, established a project company which will be refinanced via an international group of banks. In addition to the facilities for applying particle therapy (PT), the PTC will also include a department for conventional radiation therapy. Conventional radiation therapy is planned to begin at the end of 2011, and the PT facility should be started up at the beginning of 2012.

"The Kiel PTC represents a milestone for medical engineering solutions and partnership models in oncology. The Competence Center for Radiotherapeutic Oncology in Kiel will set the trend for additional particle therapy centers in Europe and the United States," said Prof. Dr. Erich R. Reinhardt, CEO of the Siemens Healthcare Sector.

Siemens will perform the planning and construction of the particle therapy system, supply medical engineering services for medical diagnostics to information technology and carry out the technical service and operation of the medical engineering systems. Bilfinger Berger Hochbau will be responsible for the turnkey construction of the center. The Hamburg branch will complete the building with four aboveground stories and two underground stories within 24 months. For this project, Bilfinger Berger can rely on their expertise gained with projects for the healthcare sector. HSG will be responsible for the technical and infrastructural building management, including maintenance and reinvestment of the technical and structural facilities and the outdoor area. Furthermore, HSG will ensure the required power, heat, and water quantities for the building with the exception of the medical facilities. In cooperation with Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, Siemens will also bring its expertise in infrastructure projects into the partnership via the Siemens Project Ventures GmbH (SPV). SPV and Bilfinger Berger Project Investment will each contribute 50 percent of the required equity capital.

"The participation of private financing partners plays a decisive role in the implementation of complex public infrastructure projects," said Wolfgang Bischoff, Managing Directory of Siemens Project Ventures GmbH. "This type of PPP solution is increasingly becoming the 'standard model' for general cooperation between the public and private sectors, and not just in healthcare."

With this project, Bilfinger Berger is extending its private-enterprise operator business to include the German healthcare sector. The company will contribute its extensive experience in financing, construction, and building operation to the Kiel project.

In particle therapy, protons or carbon ions are accelerated to a very high speed by an accelerator system and then applied precisely to the target tissue. Calculation and control with high precision enable more accurate irradiation of tumors than with previous techniques, while avoiding unnecessary treatment of the surrounding healthy tissue. Due to its accuracy, this technique is especially suited for types of cancer which are difficult to access or located close to organs at risk (e.g., tumors located at the base of the skull or brain tumors). Other applications include soft tissue sarcomas and prostate carcinomas surrounded by sensitive tissue.

Approximately 50,000 patients have already been treated with particles world-wide. Of these, more than 3,000 have been treated with carbon ions. Only a combined system which also enables the use of various ion types, in addition to protons, can meet today's requirements for the efficient treatment of abroad range of tumors.

About Siemens Healthcare

Siemens Healthcare is one of the world's largest suppliers to the healthcare industry. The company is a renowned medical solutions provider with core competence and innovative strength in diagnostic and therapeutic technologies as well as in knowledge engineering, including information technology and system integration. With its laboratory diagnostics acquisitions, Siemens Healthcare is the first fully integrated diagnostics company, bringing together imaging and lab diagnostics, therapy, and healthcare information technology solutions, supplemented by consulting and support services. Siemens Healthcare delivers solutions across the entire continuum of care - from prevention and early detection, to diagnosis, therapy and care. The company employs more than 49,000 people worldwide and operates in 130 countries. In the fiscal year 2007 (Sept. 30), Siemens Healthcare reported sales of euro 9.85 billion, orders of euro 10.27 billion, and group profit of euro 1.32 billion. Further information can be found by visiting http://www.siemens.com/healthcare.