Originally Published MX March/April 2006
COVER STORY
Investing in a New Specialty|
Return to Article: |
RITA Medical (Fremont, CA) is a silver-level sponsor of the first World Congress of Interventional Oncology, which will be held in June on Lake Como in northern Italy. Organizers say the event will mark the birth of a new interdisciplinary branch of medicine that draws distinguished specialists from a multitude of fields, including radiology, medical oncology, surgical oncology, hepatology, and radiation oncology.
According to Joseph DeVivo, chief executive officer of RITA, a silver-level sponsorship is a significant investment for a small company such as RITA. But given the company's position as the only medical device company that focuses solely on cancer therapy, it is completely appropriate, he adds.
According to RITA, an interdisciplinary approach to fighting cancer goes beyond single-option treatments, such as employing exclusively chemotherapy or radiation, and embraces a full range of therapies, including device-based therapies such as RITA's radio-frequency ablation (RFA) system. The company expects that interventional oncologists will emerge largely from the ranks of interventional radiologists, who along with surgeons have been leading the adoption of RFA.
RITA reports that the new interventional oncology specialty brings all of its sales force's call points—interventional radiologists, surgeons, and oncologists—under one big tent, creating an opportunity for the company to market the safety and efficacy of its leading products.
RITA's sponsorship of the congress is not its first interaction with clinical societies. At the last two annual meetings of the Radiological Society of North America and the Society of Interventional Radiology, both organizations featured clinical studies based on RITA's investigators, technology, and clinical data during press conferences to promote their work to the general public.
Copyright ©2006 MX
