Accuray Hires Chief Marketing Officer

January 18, 2011 at 8:33 AM EST

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Jan. 18, 2011 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), a global leader in the field of radiosurgery, announced today that Eric Pauwels has joined Accuray as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer, effective January 17, 2011.

Pauwels is a global industry leader with more than 25 years of general management experience in top-tier U.S. and European bio-pharmaceutical companies. He has successfully developed and launched more than 20 brands globally from major pharmaceuticals to highly specialized orphan drugs in the therapeutic areas of genetic diseases, cardiovascular disease, urology, gynecology, CNS/neuroscience and infectious disease. Pauwels brings more than 15 years of alliance management experience to his new role, having collaborated with commercial partners including GlaxoSmithKline, Genzyme, Dianippon-Sumitomo, Takeda, Abbott, Organon, and Centocor.

Pauwels played a key leadership role in building commercial capabilities in an early stage biotech company at Transkaryotic Therapies (TKT) and leading Shire's worldwide commercial business for its Human Genetic Disease biotech business unit where he served as SVP, Chief Commercial Officer. Prior to his tenure at Shire, Pauwels held senior management positions with Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals as Vice President Global Strategic Marketing, Men's Health and Cardiovascular Diseases. Previous to this Pauwels held increasing responsibilities in technical operations, strategic marketing and general management functions leading businesses in the United States, China, France, and Belgium for Fournier Pharma and Johnson & Johnson.

"We are extremely excited to have Eric on board at Accuray. His deep global commercial and product launch experience will be an asset to our worldwide marketing efforts," said Euan S. Thomson, Ph.D., president and CEO of Accuray. "We've known that a strong, integrated marketing program is integral to Accuray's success and believe Eric brings the necessary skills, knowledge and experience to maintain our current leadership, expand awareness and drive further demand for CyberKnife radiosurgery."

"I am honored to join Accuray's executive team and share their commitment to fight the war against cancer through advances such as the CyberKnife System. This innovative technology addresses a high unmet need in oncology and has transformed the quality of many cancer patients' lives around the world," said Pauwels.

In his role, Pauwels will report to Accuray's president and chief executive officer Euan Thomson, and will oversee the company's Global Marketing Communications, Product Marketing and Patient Access functions.

About the CyberKnife(R) Robotic Radiosurgery System

The CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System is the world's only robotic radiosurgery system designed to treat tumors anywhere in the body non-invasively. Using continual image guidance technology and computer controlled robotic mobility, the CyberKnife System automatically tracks, detects and corrects for tumor and patient movement in real-time throughout the treatment. This enables the CyberKnife System to deliver high-dose radiation with pinpoint precision, which minimizes damage to surrounding healthy tissue and eliminates the need for invasive head or body stabilization frames.

About Accuray

Accuray Incorporated (Nasdaq: ARAY), based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a global leader in the field of radiosurgery dedicated to providing an improved quality of life and a non-surgical treatment option for those diagnosed with cancer. Accuray develops and markets the CyberKnife Robotic Radiosurgery System, which extends the benefits of radiosurgery to include extracranial tumors, including those in the spine, lung, prostate, liver and pancreas. To date, the CyberKnife System has been used to treat more than 100,000 patients worldwide and currently more than 215 systems have been installed in leading hospitals in the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, please visit http://www.accuray.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

The foregoing may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including uncertainties associated with the medical device industry. Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters set forth in this press release, including statements relating to qualitative management experience and market acceptance are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date the statements are made and are based on information available at the time those statements are made and/or management's good faith belief as of that time with respect to future events. You should not put undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual performance and results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements we make include: market acceptance of products; competing products, the combination of our products with complementary technology; and other risks detailed from time to time under the heading "Risk Factors" in our report on Form 10-K for our 2010 fiscal year, our form 10-Q filed on November 8, 2010 and our other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company's actual results of operations may differ significantly from those contemplated by such forward-looking statements as a result of these and other factors. We assume no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect actual performance or results, changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting forward-looking information, except to the extent required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE Accuray Incorporated