The FDA approved Hominis system is for use in single site, natural orifice laparoscopic-assisted transvaginal benign surgical procedures including benign hysterectomy.
Israeli surgical robot company Memic Innovative Surgery announced the completion of a $96 million Series D financing round led by Peregrine Ventures and Ceros with participation from OurCrowd and Accelmed.
Memic is a medical device company, which seeks to transform robot-assisted surgery with its proprietary technology. The new funds will support commercialization of Memic's Hominis robotic-assisted surgical platform in the US and potentially in other countries and continued R&D including expanding the company's portfolio of products and manufacturing scale-up, as well as provide customer support and training.
Memic cofounder and CEO Dvir Cohen said, "The Hominis system represents a significant advancement in the growing multi-billion-dollar robotic surgery market. This financing positions us to accelerate our commercialization efforts and bring Hominis to both surgeons and patients in the months ahead." The Hominis system received De Novo marketing authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in February 2021 for use in single site, natural orifice laparoscopic-assisted transvaginal benign surgical procedures including benign hysterectomy. It is the first and only FDA-authorized surgical robotic platform that features miniature humanoid-shaped robotic arms that provide human level dexterity, multi-planar flexibility and 360 degrees of articulation. The biomimetic instruments are designed to replicate the motions and capabilities of a surgeon's arms, with shoulder, elbow and wrist joints. Multiple instruments can be introduced to the body through a single portal and the 360-degree articulation offers obstacle avoidance as well as optimal access and working angles.
The system will be sold at a significantly lower price compared to other marketed robotic surgery systems, potentially allowing more medical facilities including hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers to access and adopt surgical robotics.
Peregrine Ventures managing general partner Eyal Lifschitz said, "Memic is disrupting the market for Laparoscopic Robotic Surgery, which up to now been controlled by just one company that has nearly a 100% market share. Memic brings to the market a technology that entails a substantially improved surgical technique that is also significantly cheaper and capable of surgical procedures the competition is unable to conduct. Memic is on the road to implementing the vision of becoming a major global player that will enable surgeons to conduct safer laparoscopic procedures, that will be more precise, will lead to a more rapid recovery for those undergoing surgery, and that will also lead to billions of dollars in lower costs for hospitals around the world in the form of a substantial reduction in days of hospitalization."