Siemens Healthineers, a subsidiary of Siemens AG, one of the largest medical technology companies in the world, announced on Monday that they had agreed upon a deal to purchase Varian Medical Systems. The deal, first reported by Bloomberg, is valued at $16.4B, and is slated to be the largest medical acquisition of the year. Siemens hopes that the acquisition will give them a sizable market share in the field of cancer treatment, a field they previously had very little presence in. The two companies have previously collaborated on cancer treatments, with Varian providing the treatment process, and Siemens providing the diagnostic equipment. Now, between Siemens $50B+ market cap, and Varians Intelligent Cancer Care™ system, it should be no surprise to see a sharp uptick in patent applications relating to cancer treatment by Siemens. Currently, Siemens holds seventy-one documents in the AI Biotech/Diagnostic sector, the fifth largest assignee in the sector. However, with this recent acquisition, they may quickly work their way into one of the top spots. Make sure to subscribe to the Magic Number® AI Biotech/Diagnostic Patent Forecast® to stay on top of the most recent patent data!