Johnson & Johnson may have left the gate later than some digital surgery competitors but Ashley McEvoy, executive vice president and worldwide chair of medical devices, believes the company has the technology and the team to win the race.
In an interview with DeviceTalks Weekly Podcast, McEvoy said robotic and digital surgery systems currently on the market have only been adopted by a small percentage of providers, leaving the field open for new competitors like J&J.
“Surgery is a slow adoption business,” McEvoy said.
While offering “huge respect” for the first movers, McEvoy said J&J enjoys market leadership in surgery, and that the company’s size and reach will open doors for its three digital surgery systems — Velys, Monarch and Ottava.
“We’re going to have a differentiated value proposition doing so in a broad-based healthcare, J&J fashion, not just like a standalone medtech company,” she said.
McEvoy pointed to the team J&J has assembled, including Dr. Fred Moll, co-founder of Intuitive Surgical and Auris, the company J&J acquired in 2019. McEvoy also identified Dr. Peter Schulam, surgeon and co-founder of the Yale University Center for Biomedical Innovation and Technology, as a key new hire. He’s chief medical officer of J&J’s device group.
“We see a world where it’s not just a pure robotic play,” McEvoy said. “There’s going to be a hybrid procedure, minimally invasive laparoscopic offering combined with robotic offerings. We’re very fortunate to have the combination of a Monarch platform which has several indications to come as well as Ottava.
“We actually see the two coming together to solve big things,” she added, including cancer of the lung, bladder and kidney. “As you know these are really about intercepting the disease earlier to get much better outcomes for patients.”
McEvoy delivered insights on several areas of interest including:
- COVID-19’s impact on J&J, including changes that may occur in the future.
- How the company uses its innovation network to accelerate development.
- Why she’s bullish on the future of eye care.
- How the company will prepare for future challenges.
We also talk with Naomi Murray, director of Advanced Operations-Additive Technology at Stryker, about her almost predestined path to join the orthopedics leader. She’ll be leading the March 23 discussion on Additive Manufacturing at DeviceTalks Tuesday. Register at DeviceTalks.com.
Colleague Lisa Eitel, executive editor of Design World, updates us on her upcoming Women in Engineering webcast. Register for that discussion here.
Finally, Chris Newmarker delivers his Newsmakers — a mix of good news and bad from the digital pages of MassDevice, Medical Design & Outsourcing, and other WTWH Media sites.
Companies highlighted include Frequency Therapeutics, Medtronic, Theranos, GE Healthcare, DJO and Stryker.
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