Quickly following news that the Dextera Surgical MicroCutter Stapler 5/80 was used in a groundbreaking pediatric surgery, the company formally announced entry into a joint development program with Intuitive Surgical. The partnership intends to bring the MicroCutter technology to Intuitive’s da Vinci Surgical System.
The collaboration is an extension of a long-standing license agreement the companies entered into when Dextera was still known as Cardica, Inc. Cardica switched to the name Dextera in June.
The development program places responsibility for the stapler on Intuitive Surgical, while Dextera takes the lead on the stapler cartridge. Dextera touts the MicroCutter 5/80 Stapler as “the smallest-profile articulating stapler available today.”
Dextera Surgical president and CEO Julian Nikolchev celebrated the joint development program in a statement, saying, “This partnership with Intuitive Surgical is a significant step in the progress we have achieved in enhancing and expanding the long term opportunity of the MicroCutter technology. Intuitive Surgical is a leader in advancing robotic and minimally invasive surgery, and we believe Dextera and MicroCutter technology will have a strong role to play in these types of procedures in the future.”