Surgical Robotics Pioneer Braces for Prolonged Negotiations Due to Incoming Competition

As hot as surgical robotics has been the last two years, the market hasn't seen anything compared to what 2020 is likely to bring. So how is the pioneer in robotically-assisted surgery preparing for its incoming competition? "It is also likely we will see increased price negotiations and elongated negotiation timelines as competition get closer to launching new products," Marshall Mohr, executive vice president and CFO at Intuitive Surgical, said during the company's third-quarter earnings call. "These dynamics could result in profit fluctuations. However, we will continue to manage the business for the long term as we believe that the fundamentals of the business are strong." Mohr said the company knows that when the competitors' products come out there will be an impact on negotiations, however, he said that when such an impact will occur is less certain. "And so, we're just trying to make sure that you understand that as those dynamics occur that you're not surprised," he said. Medtronic introduced its soft-tissue surgical robotics platform late last month, with promises to address both the cost and the utilization barriers that exist in the robotic-assisted surgery market today. Medtronic's executives emphasized that only about 2% of surgeries are currently being done with robots today, and the company expects to increase market access to robotic technology. "The number that they continue to harp on was 2% robotic surgery relative to procedures done," said Jas...
Source: MDDI - Category: Medical Devices Authors: Tags: Business Source Type: news