Vermont-based healthcare technology company Luna Innovations (NSDQ:LUNA) soared high on Wall Street today, gaining more than 40% after announcing a revised multi-year supply and development deal with robot-assisted surgical company Intuitive Surgical (NSDQ:ISRG).
LUNA shares were up 44.7% to $1.88 as of about 1:05 p.m. today following news of the deal, which includes potential achievement-based milestones through 2015. The announcement wasn’t as motivating for ISRG investors, with shares down 0.5% to $501.64.
"This new commitment with Intuitive further expands our relationship with a leader in the growing field of robot-assisted surgery," Luna CEO My Chung said in prepared remarks. "It further demonstrates the significant advancements our company has made toward revenue-enhancing productization as we continue to focus on shape sensing as an area for growth. We’re pleased to strengthen our relationship with Intuitive and are committed to achieving key milestones in the agreement in the years ahead."
Under the terms of the deal Luna will exclusively offer its high-speed, shape-sensing technology for integration into Intuitive’s da Vinci robot-assisted surgical platform, according to the press release. Luna’s technology aims to provide real-time measurements to help surgeons sense positions and track locations in the body during surgery.
"This technology could be particularly helpful in certain minimally invasive surgical techniques because of the need to track the position of medical instruments in the patient, using optical fibers as thin as a human hair to provide sensing and feedback, as the nervous system does for the human body," according to previous Luna statements.