Integra Lifesciences is closing its ACell plant in Lafayette, Indiana, letting go of almost all of the workers. Princeton, New Jersey–based Integra informed the Indiana Department of Workforce Development in a Feb. 13 WARN notice that the closure will result in a layoff of 60 workers — 52 on April 26 and eight on May […]
The Bakken Medical Devices Center gets a new director
The Bakken Medical Devices Center at the University of Minnesota announced today that a longtime biomedical engineering professor will become its new director. Hubert Lim, PhD, has been at the University of Minnesota for 14 years. He’s presently a professor in the Biomedical Engineering and Otolaryngology Departments at the university’s College of Science and Engineering. […]
Former Mazor VP convicted of insider trading
A federal jury in Minnesota has convicted a former Mazor Robotics VP of insider trading and securities fraud around 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. On Feb. 16, a jury found him guilty on […]
A Medtronic EVP is leaving amid latest reorganization
Bob White, the EVP and president of Medtronic’s Medical Surgical portfolio, is leaving the company in a new round of reorganization. Medtronic CEO Geoff Martha announced that White was leaving at the end of the company’s Q3 earnings call this morning. “He’s been such an impactful and important leader for the company for a long […]
Former Medtronic President Thomas Holloran passes away
Thomas Holloran — an executive from Medtronic’s earliest days who served on the medtech giant’s board for decades — has died at the age of 94. Holloran passed away on the evening of Feb. 15, the Star Tribune of Minneapolis reported. A biography on the website of the University of St. Thomas — where Holloran […]
Medtronic is exiting the ventilator market
Medtronic announced today that it will exit what it describes as its increasingly unprofitable ventilator product line. The move comes more than a year after Medtronic said it would spin off its Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, part of its Medical Surgical portfolio. Reports last year claimed that other medtech companies, including GE HealthCare […]
CytexOrtho wins OrthoPitch Technology Competition at AAOS 2024
Durham, North Carolina–based CytexOrtho won the inaugural OrthoPitch Technology Competition at AAOS 2024 this week. A pre-clinical stage medical device company, CytexOrtho designed its ReNew Hip implant to restore the joint naturally rather than replace it. It’s a potential solution for active people with early hip disease who are too young for a total hip […]
The biggest stories from AAOS 2024
Stryker, Smith+Nephew, Osso VR and more made important announcements at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons’ annual meeting (AAOS 2024). AAOS 2024, running Feb. 12–16 in San Francisco, was also where a new study raised questions about the benefits of robotic knee surgery. Go to our sibling site Medical Design & Outsourcing to find out […]
Osso VR launches controller-free option for its surgical training VR
Osso VR today announced Hand Control — a controller-free option for its virtual-reality-based surgical training system. The Hand Control feature uses cameras in the headset to track users’ hand and figure movements within virtual reality. It leverages Meta’s latest hand-tracking APIs. According to San Francisco–based Osso VR, Hand Control supports all standard controller interactions. Users […]
10 surgical robotics companies you need to know
The surgical robotics space saw a major shakeup last year. “Robotics is hard. Robotics in healthcare is hard.” Hani Abouhalka, Johnson & Johnson’s company group chair for Robotics & Digital, said those words at our DeviceTalks West event in California in October. It pretty much sums up the situation for medtech companies large and small […]
3M could reportedly raise up to $12 billion from Solventum spinoff
3M stands to make billions of dollars from spinning off its Health Care business into a new company called Solventum, according to a Star Tribune of Minneapolis report. The newspaper’s report cited a Fitch Ratings report, which said the up to $12 billion from the Solventum spinoff would come in over the next five years. […]