J&J Finally Moves Forward with Ottava Surgical Robotics Platform
The company has submitted its surgical robotics platform, Ottava, to FDA for investigational device exemption (IDE) approval.
October 16, 2024
Nearly four years ago, in November 2020, MD+DI published a story with this headline: The Moment We've All Been Waiting For: J&J's Surgical Robotics Platform Reveal.
The excitement around Johnson & Johnson's anticipated entry into robotic surgery was clear from investors, surgeons, and of course the company's leadership. Even though the company was late to the game, it seemed, the Ottava surgical robotics platform stood a real chance at becoming a leader in the sector.
But after that big Ottava reveal event, the company went relatively silent about the platform. Then, in October 2021, J&J announced a delay to its robotics program of about two years. Meanwhile, Medtronic entered the surgical robotics market with Hugo.
So now, the moment we've all been waiting for (again) has arrived: J&J casually mentioned during its third-quarter earnings call this week that it has submitted Ottava to FDA for investigation device exception (IDE), a crucial step toward being able to use the surgical robot in human clinical trials in the United States.
How J&J intends to win in robotic surgery
While the company has been relatively quiet about its highly-anticipated entry into robotic surgery, CEO Joaquin Duato mentioned Ottava last year during the company's 3Q23 earnings call.
“I've been in touch with multiple surgeons around the world. And one common comment that I find is that they all want [it]. They are rooting for Johnson & Johnson to come into the robotic surgical space,” Duato said.
He said robotic surgeons want to be able to use J&J's Ethicon instruments and to have "the service and the support that they have become accustomed to during decades with our Ethicon business."
J&J also shared some details about Ottava with investors and analysts last year at the company's 2023 Enterprise Business Review investor event. As Rick Wise, a medtech analyst at Stifel, pointed out during a Q&A at that event, being late to the game isn't always a bad thing, as it can be an opportunity to bring new technologies that are lacking in the existing market.
“What we heard from surgeons is they need someone to come in and play in this market and take robotic surgery forward,” said Hani Abouhalka, company group chairman of robotics and digital at J&J. "Why are we going to win? ... First, it is a one-of-a-kind unique, unified architecture that allows us to really remove friction in the OR, give space back to surgeons to allow them to really work better for workflows."
He added that the arms of the robot are incorporated into the table, which allows J&J to give something to surgeons that they had asked for in robotic surgery, which is the ability to have the table move natively without any software or stopping workflows or removing the carts, etc.
"That, what we call twin motion, is going to be really differentiated for us," Abouhalka said.
He also emphasized the advantage of using only Ethicon instruments with Ottava.
"This brings standard experience across laparoscopy and robotics," Abouhalka said. "I know surgeons who will tell me today that while doing robotic surgery they do manual firing using Ethicon instruments [because] we are the leaders in stapling."
Finally, he touted that J&J's global presence gives him confidence that the company will be able to be by the side of surgeons as they train on the system and advance.
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