On Monday, Medical device giant Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) unveiled plans that would see income from a robotic surgery unit by 2019, an entry into the orthopedic hip and knee replacement market in 2017 and an application for FDA regulatory clearance for a hybrid closed-loop insulin pump this summer.
The company revealed these plans and outlined its financial strategies for the coming year yesterday during an investor day presentation.
Fridley, Minn.-based Medtronic said it expects to see revenue from its still-in-development robotic surgical system by the beginning of the fiscal year 2019,.
The company expects to launch the robot before FY2019 with the 1st units hitting the field in India, according to minimally invasive therapies group head Bryan Hanson.
The robotic system will go up against Intuitive Surgical‘s (NSDQ:ISRG) da Vinci system, as well as facing competition from a number of other emerging players, including Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Google‘s (NSDQ:GOOG) Verb Surgical, which is already developing their own unit they hope to unveil by year’s end.
The robotic unit from Medtronic will aim to lower costs, Hanson said, and 150 employees are already at work in development of the system.
New hip and knee replacement devices are on the horizon for Medtronic. The company said it will enter the field of hip and knee replacement devices, facilitated by its purchase of Responsive Orthopedics, with the 1st knee available during the 1st half of 2017 and the 1st hip product in 2018.
The company also said that it expects to apply for FDA approval for the 1st “hybrid closed loop” insulin pump, designed to adjust insulin levels according to glucose reading, by the end of June.
Material from Reuters was used in this report.
