Stryker follows a slew of medtechs that have aimed to deepen their robotic surgery capabilities this year through acquisitions: Johnson & Johnson bought out Auris Health for $3.4 billion, Intuitive Surgical added Schölly Fiberoptic’s robotic endoscope business, and Siemens Healthineers last month purchased Corindus Vascular Robotics.
The acquisition is also the third announced by Stryker this year, with the company having previously picked up chronic rhinitis device maker Arrinex and rotator cuff tear tech company OrthoSpace. Canadian hospital sterilization product manufacturer TSO3 also last month said it had agreed to be acquired by Stryker.
The deal announced Wednesday is the second major medtech exit for Mobius CEO and co-founder Eugene Gregerson, who previously co-founded Breakaway Imaging, which sold its O-arm imaging system to Medtronic’s surgical navigation systems business in 2007.
Stryker’s presence in robotics has been mostly centered on its Mako joint replacement platform for total knee, partial knee and total hip procedures, technologies acquired through its $1.65 billion buyout of Mako Surgical in 2013. Stryker said the product line helped drive its recent 9.9% growth in net sales during the second quarter. The expansion into other robotic surgery technologies comes as Zimmer Biomet’s Rosa robotic surgery platform has begun to take share in some of Mako’s specialties.
Neurotechnology and Spine, Stryker’s smallest division, had 7.4% organic growth last quarter. The company made a major investment in the unit last year with the $1.4 billion acquisition of spinal surgery device maker K2M. The strategy of bolstering spine device sales by enhancing spine surgery platforms appears to be working for at least one competitor; Medtronic reported a bump to its spine implant sales in the most recent quarter thanks to adoption of its Mazor robotic surgery platform.
Stryker anticipates the deal will close in the fourth quarter of 2019 and does not expect it to have material impact on full-year net earnings.
By Maria Rachal
Source: MedTechDive
Giovanni Caforio, the former CEO of Bristol Myers Squibb, is set to become the next board chairman of Novartis, which on Tuesday proposed the pharmaceutical industry veteran as its pick to replace Joerg Reinhardt in the role next year. Reinhardt has served as Novartis’ chair since 2013 and plans to retire when his 12-year term ends in 2025.
GE HealthCare has raised the curtain on two ultrasound systems equipped with artificial intelligence programs designed to assist in diagnosing conditions in women’s health, including obstetric exams. The Voluson Signature 20 and 18 imaging systems include AI tools capable of automatically identifying and annotating measurements of fetal anatomy.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry have revealed a new sustainable method of manufacturing complex molecules that could reduce waste produced during drug production. The method published in Nature Chemistry could help to prevent severe side effects caused by drugs that can exist as enantiomers.
