Shanghai, China, October 29, 2020 – MicroPort Scientific Corporation ("MicroPort") announced today that it has entered into definitive agreements through its subsidiary company MicroPort MedBot (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. ("MedBot") with its France based strategic partner Robocath to form a joint venture in the field of vascular robotics for the China territory (the "JV"). The JV shall have an ownership structure of 51% MedBot owned and 49% Robocath owned.
As a reminder, the primary purpose of the JV is to: (i) receive NMPA regulatory approval and commercialize Robocath’s existing robotic systems and cassettes; (ii) set up manufacturing production for cassettes and the assembly of robots systems to be distributed in Greater China; and (iii) carry out research and development activities related to next generation long-distance, remote control over 5G network technologies and develop artificial intelligence algorithms to be used with Robocath robot systems.
"Since the announcement of our strategic partnership, we have made tremendous progress with RoboCath on forming and setting up the JV for future success in the China vascular robotics market," stated Dr. Alex He, General Manager of MedBot, "we appreciate the co-operative efforts from the Robocath team and look forward to delivering to the China market a world class vascular robot."
The JV will begin immediately the type testing, clinical and regulatory activities required to receive NMPA approval for the R-One™ robotic system for use in interventional cardiology.
"Robocath is excited to take the next step in opening the China market for its vascular robotics systems," Dr. Phillippe Bencteux, Founder and President of Robocath, "We have been impressed with the MedBot team and look forward to a strong JV partnership with MedBot."
About MicroPort MedBot
Founded in 2014, MicroPort MedBot develops intelligent surgical robotic systems and solutions. MedBot is committed to facing the most cutting edge development needs of minimally invasive surgery, and innovatively providing integrated intelligent surgical solutions that can save patients’ lives or improve their quality of life. After years of research and development innovation and industrial accumulation, MedBot has grown to become a medical robot company to master the underlying technology of the entire chain. MedBot’s three flagship products in the three major segments, namely the Toumai™ laparoscopic surgical robot, Honghu joint replacement surgery robot, and DFVision™ three-dimensional electronic laparoscope had entered the special approval procedure ("Green Path") for innovative medical devices of the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA), becoming the only surgical robot company with 3 "Green Path" grants in the PRC. Its current business covers five segments, including endoscope, orthopaedics, vascular intervention, natural orifice, and percutaneous puncture.
About RoboCath
Founded in 2009, Robocath designs, develops and commercializes robotic solutions to treat vascular diseases. The company’s first robot system called R-One™ was designed to assist interventional cardiologists in stenting (angioplasty) by enabling precision technologies that complement existing methods. Due to its open architecture, R-One™ is compatible with market-leading interventional devices and cath labs. In a prospective, randomized, controlled pre-clinical trial, R-One™ demonstrated safety and efficacy as it achieved 100% technical procedure success and no MACE events. R-One™ received the CE marking in February 2019 is the first European robotic solution to obtain the CE mark in the field of interventional cardiology. Currently R-One is available in Europe and Africa.