J&J: Robotic surgery systems
Johnson & Johnson plans a regulatory submission for a robotic knee surgery system by the second half of the year. The orthopedic robotic system is part of Johnson & Johnson’s Velys digital surgery platform — and is meant to be J&J’s answer to Stryker’s popular Mako robot-assisted surgery systems. The platform consists of connected technologies that will use data insights for patients, surgeons and health systems to enhance the orthopedic experience at all points of surgical procedures, according to J&J.
The medtech giant, in general, has been making big moves in the robot-assisted surgery space. J&J ended 2019 by announcing its purchase of the remaining stake in Verb Surgical, following what J&J described as a successful strategic collaboration with the Alphabet life sciences unit Verily. J&J’s Ethicon subsidiary in early 2019 inked a $3.4 billion deal to pick up surgical robotics pioneer Dr. Fred Moll’s newest robotic surgical play, Auris Health, and its FDA-cleared Monarch platform.
The Monarch system presently provides bronchoscopic visualization of and access to patient airways for diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the lung. J&J plans to seek clearance in endourology for kidney stone treatment and expand with a GI endoscopy indication in the future.
The company previously planned a robotic surgery reveal on May 13, but it postponed the event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Update: J&J revealed its robotic surgery system in November 2020.