On November 7, Johnson & Johnson’s medical technology division announced that it would submit an application to the U.S. FDA in the second half of 2024 to initiate clinical trials for the Ottava surgical robot system.

This is about two years later than originally planned. According to Johnson & Johnson's previous plan, clinical trial registration for the device was expected to take place in 2022. Technically, Johnson & Johnson stated that the Ottava surgical robot integrates four robotic arms into a standard-sized operating table, which is two fewer than the six robotic arms initially planned.

Johnson & Johnson has also integrated robotic systems and digital platforms. The company previously acquired Auris Health, a surgical robotics company, and its FDA-approved digital platform Monarch for $3.4 billion. At this year's CIIE, Johnson & Johnson announced that Monarch became the first robot-assisted platform approved in China for diagnosis and treatment through natural orifices. The system enables diagnosis and treatment via the bronchial pathway without incisions on the body surface, thereby accelerating the minimally invasive and precise treatment of lung cancer.

Surgical robots have become a frontier field contested by medical technology companies. Medtronic has also developed the surgical robot system Hugo. At last year's CIIE, Medtronic's booth featured a "Robot Rally," showcasing three surgical robots covering fields such as spinal, neurosurgery, and robot-assisted procedures.

In recent years, SoftBank's Vision Fund 2 has also completed an investment in CMR Surgical, a British surgical robotics startup. In China, a number of surgical robot companies have emerged, represented by Tinavi. However, in the field of surgical robotics, Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci Surgical System still dominates the market.

Currently, Intuitive Surgical occupies 92.3% of the general surgical robotic surgery market, such as hernia repair, hysterectomy, cholecystectomy, colectomy, myomectomy, and prostatectomy. Others include orthopedic surgeries using Stryker's MAKO system and neurosurgery with Medtronic's Mazor system.

In order to encourage the development of the local medical robotics industry chain, Shanghai released the "Action Plan for Promoting the Development of the Medical Robotics Industry (2023-2025)" last month. The Action Plan states that by 2025, Shanghai aims to become the birthplace of technological innovation in medical robotics in China, a hub for high-end manufacturing, and a demonstration site for collaborative applications, with a significantly enhanced industrial level and a scale reaching 10 billion yuan.

Specifically, in terms of cutting-edge achievements, more than 10 internationally advanced innovative products should emerge. In terms of industrial capacity, no less than 2 medical robot industry clusters should be established, and around 10 leading enterprises in various medical robot sub-fields should be nurtured. Additionally, about 5 professional technical public service platforms should be built, more than 3 medical robot application demonstration platforms should be established, and over 10 replicable and promotable application demonstration scenarios should be formed. The surgical robot sector, rehabilitation robot sector, and auxiliary service robot sector will become key development areas.

Industry insiders believe that innovation in payment methods is crucial for the development of the surgical robotics industry. Although surgical robots have played a significant role in the construction of smart hospitals, China's current medical insurance policy regarding surgical robots still needs further clarification.

In September 2021, the Beijing Medical Insurance Bureau officially set a government pricing for robot-assisted orthopedic surgery as an auxiliary procedure, and included it along with disposable robot-specific instruments in the medical insurance reimbursement catalog. This marked the first time that orthopedic surgical robots were incorporated into medical insurance as an emerging medical technology.

"Due to the long-term low pricing in public hospitals, it has also become a bottleneck for the promotion of high-end medical equipment in China's public hospitals. Now, the state has proposed that public hospitals have the authority to set medical service prices, which will also be beneficial for the popularization of advanced equipment in public hospitals in the future," said a person in charge of surgical robots at a multinational medical device manufacturer.