Robotics

In September last year, J&J lost a court case surrounding its 2019 purchase of Auris health, and was ordered to pay over $1bn in damages. Reactions to the potentially precedent-setting news were harsh and quick. In Vivo spoke to legal, M&A and BD experts from across the medtech industry to learn more about the true impacts.

Stryker is selling its $700m spinal implants business to Viscogliosi Brothers, forming a new entity VB Spine, which will maintain a strong partnership with Stryker. The company also reported strong Q4 financials and announced a CFO transition.

The Octane Medical Innovation Forum brought together industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors to discuss a range of topics. Medtech Insight was on the ground to bring some memorable perspectives from industry leaders.

This week, Establishment Labs Holdings announced the FDA gave it premarket approval for Motiva breast implant, Cologuard lands FDA approval for Cologuard Plus and GE HealthCare gets FDA nod for a new imaging agent. The FDA announces another expansion for TAP into ophthalmology and radiology. The AAMI and CTA will join forces to develop standards for AI and ML-enabled health care products.  

In this episode of the In Vivo podcast, visionary University of Toronto researcher Alan Aspuru-Guzik talks about the value of generative AI, automation and quantum computing in drug discovery. 

J&J’s “pants down” moment with Auris could permanently change how medtech M&A is conducted. Build-to-buy arrangements, which leave companies’ destinies in the hands of their owners, are likely to replace current earn-out models.

Vitestro's automated blood drawing robot received CE marking on August 28. The company is limiting release of the robot over the next 12 months to a small number of selected hospitals, with plans to scale up production thereafter.

Caresyntax said it will use the $180m it recently raised in a series C extension and debt financing round to build out its vendor-neutral surgery platform aimed to help surgeons with real-time and long-term decision support to improve patient outcomes and efficiencies.

J&J Medtech announced the FDA clearance of its dual-use robotics platform Velys Spine with plans to go to market in the first half of 2025.

This week, the US FDA sent a warning letter to maker of batteries for AEDs, AMCO; Virtual Incision successfully completed the first hysterectomy its miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery device MIRA; The DOJ finalized a rule that requires government-operated health care facilities to provide accessible equipment for people with disabilities; the FDA compiled its resources on reprocessed medical devices onto a new web page; and more.