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Titan Medical to implement cost-cutting measures, furloughs 40 employees

Titan Medical (Nasdaq:TMDI) announced today that it plans to implement cost-cutting measures that include temporary furloughs.

News of cost-cutting follows last week’s announcement that Titan plans to review and evaluate strategic alternatives.

Toronto-based Titan develops single-access robotic-assisted surgery technology. It consulted with financial and legal advisors to determine that the review is in the company’s and stakeholders’ best interest. Titan’s board plans to consider a full range of strategic alternatives. That may include a corporate sale, merger or other business combination. It could also lead to a sale of all or a portion of its assets, strategic investment or other significant transaction.

According to a news release, Titan’s measures allow it to continue working on its FDA investigational device exemption (IDE) filing. As part of the plan, Titan’s U.S. subsidiary intends to temporarily furlough approximately 40 emplo…

Neocis raises $40M for dental surgical robot

The Yomi surgical robot. [Image from Neocis website]Robot-assisted dental surgery technology developer Neocis announced today that it completed an oversubscribed financing round worth $40 million.

Miami-based Neocis manufactures Yomi, a computerized robotic navigational system. It provides assistance in the preoperative and intraoperative phases of dental implantation surgery. Yomi provides software for planning procedures and offers robotic navigational guidance for surgical instruments during procedures. The company developed its system for use in partially edentulous and fully edentulous adult patients who qualify for dental implants.

Yomi assists clinicians during all phases of implant placement. Its streamlined digital planning and haptic guidance offer accuracy, efficiency and confidence for clinicians. Its uses often include flapless procedures, a less invasive surgical approach.

An unnamed specialist investor within the dental industry led Neocis…

Monteris Medical raises $35M for its robotic brain surgery system

Monteris Medical recently raised $35 million as it continues to advance its minimally invasive robotic brain surgery system.

The NeuroBlate surgical robotics system for the brain. [Image courtesy of Monteris Medical]The Minnetonka, Minnesota–based company reported a $13.5 million raise in an SEC Form D filed on Sept. 15. But in an article published yesterday in the Star Tribune of Minneapolis, CFO Jim Erickson said the equity financing range was actually $35 million.

“The first half of this year was more challenging than the year before. It took longer than we would have hoped,” Erickson told the Star Tribune. He later added that the life sciences space is proving to be a durable investment space, even amid the present economic hurdles.

Monteris Medical is among a host of companies big and small that are seeking to innovate in a surgical robotics space that has long been dominated by Intuitive. [Intuitive CEO Gary Guthart will deliver a keynote …

8 more surgical robotics companies you need to know

The Versius surgical robotics system [Image from CMR Surgical] You know the big hitters in surgical robotics. Here are some of the companies you may not know about, but you should keep an eye on them.

Last month, MassDevice compiled a list of 16 surgical robotics companies you need to know. That list included the usual suspects, like Intuitive, Medtronic, Johnson & Johnson and more. But, a list of 16 companies hardly scratches the surface.

Competition continues to heat up what is already one of the hottest spaces in medtech. Here are eight more companies that made waves in robot-assisted surgery recently:

Company Robotic system CMR Surgical Versius Medical Microinstruments Symani Levita Magnetics MARS Virtuoso Surgical Virtuoso System eCential Robotics Surgivisio Globus Medical ExcelsiusGPS Distalmotion Dexter Quantum Surgical Epione CMR Surgical

Cambridge, United Kingdom-based CMR Surgical took a massive step forward in 2021.

The …

FDA clears eCential Robotics’ spine surgery robot

The robotic arm of the eCential Robotics platform for spine surgery [Image courtesy of eCential Robotics]French robotic spine surgery tech company eCential Robotics announced today that it has received FDA clearance for its 3D imaging, navigation and robotics guidance system.

With the help of recent partnerships with U.S. implant companies, Gières, France–based eCential Robotics plans to start selling its surgical robotics system in North America. The company has already sold 10 systems in Europe, with more than 2,000 surgeries.

“The FDA clearance of the eCential Robotics unified platform recognizes reliability and robustness of our product, confirms the confidence in eCential Robotics’ unique concept of focusing surgical workflows on the essential via a unified, open and multi-app system, and also encourages our ambition to expand our footprint in the United States,” said Laurence Chabanas, the company’s chief strategy officer and U.S. CEO…

16 surgical robotics companies you need to know

Intuitive remains the dominant surgical robotics company, but corporations ranging from Medtronic to Vicarious Surgical look to compete. The Da Vinci Xi robotic surgery system. Intuitive continues to dominate the space. [Image courtesy of Intuitive]Robotic-assisted surgery remains one of the hottest spaces in medtech. Intuitive, which pioneered the field in the 1990s and early 2000s, continues to innovate. At the same time, a host of other companies are looking to compete.

Companies making headlines in the robotic surgery space over the past year include:

Company Robotic system(s) Intuitive Surgical Da Vinci Xi, Da Vinci X, Da Vinci SP, Ion Medtronic Hugo Johnson & Johnson Monarch, Velys, Ottava Stryker Mako Siemens Healthineers’ Corindus CorPath GRX Vicarious Surgical Beta 2 Titan Medical Enos Asensus Surgical Senhance Moon Surgical Maestro Momentus Surgical Anovo Virtual Incision MIRA Stereotaxis Genesis RMN, Vdrive, Niobe Monteris …

Titan Medical to start manufacturing Enos systems later this year

Titan Medical’s Enos robotic-assisted surgery (RAS) system is meant to benefit hospitals through a smaller footprint, easy mobility and lower operating costs. [Images courtesy of Titan Medical]Titan Medical (Nasdaq: TMDI; TSX: TMD) expects manufactured units of the Enos robotic-assisted surgery system will be available later this year.

The goal is to commercially launch Enos in early 2025 after securing a De Novo market authorization from the FDA, the Toronto-based robotic surgery company said during its second-quarter earnings report today.

Titan Medical officials said they have an ongoing dialogue with FDA through the agency’s Q-Submission program. Its regulatory timeline includes filing an application for an investigational device exemption (IDE) in mid-year 2023 for its initial target indication for benign gynecologic surgical procedures, followed by an FDA response in the second half of 2023. After the IDE approval, the next step would be to compl…

Stereotaxis stock down amid cloudy outlook

Stereotaxis (NYSE: STXS) today reported second-quarter revenue that missed Wall Street projections, with the surgical robotics company unable to say how quickly revenue will pick up.

Investors reacted by sending STXS shares down more than 18% to $2.10 apiece by late afternoon trading today.

The St. Louis–based company lost $5.1 million, or 7¢ per share, off $6.2 million in revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 — versus a loss of $1.2 million, or 2¢ per share, off $9.1 million in revenue for the same quarter a year ago.

Losses during the second quarter a year ago were less because Stereotaxis received $2.2 million in Paycheck Protection Loan forgiveness. Adjusted net loss for Q2 2022 and 2022 was the same: $2.5 million.

The $6.2 million in revenue during Stereotaxis’ most recent quarter missed The Street, where analysts predicted $7.08 million in revenue. As of June 30, the company had $35.1 million in cash and cash equivalents — and no…

Vicarious Surgical completes Beta 2 system design

Vicarious Surgical (NYSE:RBOT) continues to progress in the development of its Beta 2 robotic surgery platform, though supply chain disruption poses risks for the company’s timeline.

That appeared to be the big message out of the Waltham, Massachusetts–based surgical robotics company’s Q2 earnings report yesterday evening.

Vicarious Surgical’s technology uses proprietary human-like surgical robots combined with 3D visualization to transport surgeons inside the patient to perform minimally invasive surgery. CEO Adam Sachs noted during the company’s earnings call that updates to the previous Beta 1 system are focusing on ergonomic changes for surgeon comfort — and improved 3D visualization, sensing and motion capabilities. The idea is to enable the surgeon to move freely within the abdominal cavity with the system, he said.

“With significant and very positive feedback on the initial Beta 2 ergonomic prototypes, we have complet…

Asensus Surgical says procedures up by more than a third in Q2

Asensus Surgical (NYSE American: ASXC) today announced mixed Q2 results that also included 34% procedures growth year-over-year.

The Research Triangle Park, North Carolina–based surgical robotics and digital surgery company lost $19.6 million, or 8¢ per share, off $994,000 in revenue for the quarter ended June 20, 2022 — versus a loss of $13.2 million, or 6¢ per share, off $1.1 million in revenue for the same quarter a year ago.

Wall Street analysts had expected EPS of –8¢ on $1.25 million in revenue.

During Q2, Asensus announced the installation of a Senhance system at the University Hospital Tübingen in Germany. The company also has two additional orders that have not yet been installed — including one heading toward one of the countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the international organization that includes Russia and many other former republics of the Soviet Union.

The company is seeking to expand the use of its Intelligent Sur…

Does Asensus Surgical have a Russia problem?

Asensus Surgical’s Senhance surgical system [Photo courtesy of Asensus Surgical]Add the Russia-Ukraine war to the potential challenges facing Asensus Surgical (NYSE American: ASXC) as it seeks to innovate in the surgical robotics space.

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina–based Asensus today announced the sale of one of its Senhance surgical systems, an important development given that its 2021 annual report lists a total of two Senhance system sales and one lease buyout.

The company, however, didn’t name the hospital or country where its distribution partner placed the system. It only said that it was a hospital in the Commonwealth of Independent States, the international organization of countries that includes Russia and many of the other countries that made up the former Soviet Union.

Asensus Surgical spokespeople did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The company is scheduled to release Q2 earnings on Aug. 8.

Since Ru…

Former Mazor VP accused of insider trading around Medtronic acquisition

[Image from Unsplash]A former Mazor Robotics VP is among three businessmen facing federal insider trading charges and an SEC lawsuit over stock trades leading up to Medtronic’s $1.6 billion acquisition announcement in 2018.

Ron Tavlin was Mazor’s VP of business development from 2017 to 2019. Before that, he’d been a paid consultant for Medtronic. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Minnesota and the SEC claim that Tavlin tipped off his friend Afshin Farahan about the impending deal in 2018, and that Farahan then bought Mazor stock and tipped off friend David Gantman to buy more Mazor stock as well as call options.

Farahan and Gantman made a profit of about $500,000 off the allegedly illegal trades, according to authorities. More than a year late, Farahan gave Tavlin a $25,000 check.

Federal prosecutors also claim that when the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) reached out to Tavlin after the trades with a list of people and e…