Ken Goldberg thinks artificial intelligence will enable surgical robots to achieve their best function — not replacing surgeons but augmenting their work by reducing the monotony of specific subtasks like suturing. The William S. Floyd Jr. Distinguished Chair in Engineering at UC Berkeley, Goldberg and his research team have continued to advance the field. The group — which includes postdoctoral […]
Google opening office near Mayo Clinic
Google announced today that it will open an office in downtown Rochester, Minn., to be close to Mayo Clinic. The tech giant plans to have an office up and running with a handful of workers as soon as possible, given the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, according to a news release posted on the website of the […]
3 ways to a strategic medtech patent portfolio
Protecting innovations leads to medtech success. Top Greenberg Traurig patent attorneys explain how. Roman Fayerberg and David J. Dykeman, Greenberg Traurig A strategic patent portfolio is key to a medtech company’s growth and success, but building a robust patent portfolio takes strategy, time and money. While there are no shortcuts to building a strategic patent […]
Federal lawsuit over Boston Sci pelvic mesh heads to trial
A federal judge in Arkansas has ruled that most counts in a pelvic mesh lawsuit against Boston Scientific can go to trial. Kortney Cline sued Boston Sci in 2014, claiming that she suffered injuries after implantation with the company’s Obtryx trans-obturator mid-urethral sling in 2009. Cline’s case was recently transferred to federal court in Arkansas […]
Zimmer Biomet wants federal court to throw out $3.55M hip implant judgment
Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) wants either a judgment or a new trial after a federal jury’s $3.55 million award in a metal-on-metal hip implant case. The jury awarded the money to Lori Nicholson and her husband Willis in November for injuries sustained as a result of the M2A Magnum. In a brief filed Feb. 12, Zimmer Biomet claimed […]
Former Medtronic exec to lead Zimmer Biomet spinoff
Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) announced today that Vafa Jamali will serve as the CEO of “NewCo,” the spine and dental business spinoff that Zimmer Biomet expects to close in mid-2022. A more than 25-year medtech veteran, Jamali most recently served as chief commercial officer of Rockley Photonics. Before that, he was SVP and president of Respiratory, Gastrointestinal […]
Dexcom Q4 earnings miss by a penny — but revenue up 23%
Dexcom (NSDQ:DXCM) reported mixed Q4 2020 results and reiterated a fiscal year 2021 revenue guidance that is slightly below Wall Street projections. The San Diego–based continuous glucose monitor company yesterday evening reported profits of $355.2 million, or $3.48 per share, on sales of $568.9 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, 2020, nearly quadrupling the […]
Are smart knee implants the next big thing in ortho?
Orthopedic device industry watchers think so, and Zimmer Biomet appears set to be the first out of the gate this year through a partnership with the startup Canary Medical. What do drug-eluting stents and “smart” implantable medical devices have in common? It turns out it’s a lot, at least according to Dr. Bill Hunter. The […]
WellAir acquires UV Innovators, former TransEnterix CEO appointed to corner office
WellAir announced today that it has acquired UV Innovators in a deal that combines WellAir’s FDA-cleared portable air cleaning system with UV Innovators’ medical-grade handheld UVC disinfection technology. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Todd Pope, who has been executive chairman of Cary, N.C.–based UV Innovators since 2017, has been appointed CEO […]
BREAKING: Zimmer Biomet to spin off spine and dental businesses
Zimmer Biomet (NYSE:ZBH) — one of the world’s largest orthopedic device companies — will be a bit smaller going forward. The Warsaw, Ind.–based company announced today that it will spin off its spine and dental businesses into a new, independent, publicly-traded company called NewCo. Zimmer Biomet plans to complete the transaction by mid-2022. The businesses that […]
Ambu expands single-use endoscopy contracts with GPOs
Ambu (CPH:AMBU-B) announced today that it has secured national single-use endoscopy contract expansions with two major U.S. group purchasing organizations (GPOs). Ballerup, Denmark–based Ambu is now on contract with all four major GPOs in the U.S. Customers served by the GPOs now have access to either a full or partial portfolio of single-use endoscopy categories. […]