Google, J&J Robotics Move Targets Intuitive Surgical

Verily, which was formerly the Google Life Sciences division and is now owned by Alphabet, will partner with Johnson & Johnson’s medical devices company Ethicon to make robots more effective as surgical assistants.

In the coming years, Verb Surgical aims to develop a comprehensive surgical solutions platform that will incorporate leading-edge robotic capabilities and best-in-class medical device technology for operating room professionals.

Verb Surgical has received investments from Ethicon, Johnson & Johnson and Verily. This will allow surgeons to operate much closer to the patient.

Verb Surgical will be an entity focused on robotic surgery and medical devices.

Verb Surgical is reportedly planning to develop new technologies with direct input from surgeons and hospitals in hopes of improving access to minimally invasive surgeries, improve patient outcomes and have more efficient hospitals. Scott Huennekens, the former president of a heart imaging company called Volcano Corporation, will take the position of CEO at Verb Surgical. The company’s previous projects have included glucose-checking contact lenses, disease-detecting nanoparticles and The Baseline Study, which seeks to build a genetic profile of a perfectly healthy human. Johnson & Johnson is a known name in the field of medical devices and Verily will help by contributing Google’s massive experience in machine learning and advanced image processing to advance robots. J&J, however, said it appointed Scott Huennekens as president and CEO of the new company.

The venture, which will be called Verb Surgical Inc., is the latest partnership between the California tech giant and the health-care industry, after earlier collaborations with Biogen Inc., Novartis AG and Sanofi.

Wired additionally reports that Verb has hired over a hundred employees, who will be based out of the same Mountain View, CA. headquarters as Google.

“We believe Verb Surgical has the potential to change the future of surgery, not just robotic surgery”, said Gary Pruden, Worldwide Chairman, Johnson & Johnson Medical Devices, in a news release Thursday. For now, additional financial terms have not been disclosed. To date, the company has already recruiting about 100 people, and that number is expected to grow. Are they setting out to design brand new tools from scratch? Now, the company seems to be saying, it’s ready for some of those shots launched at the moon to start their journeys-all on their own.