{"id":578480,"date":"2024-04-03T17:06:16","date_gmt":"2024-04-03T21:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/?p=578480"},"modified":"2024-04-03T17:15:48","modified_gmt":"2024-04-03T21:15:48","slug":"karl-storz-enters-talks-to-acquire-asensus-surgical-through-letter-of-intent","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.therobotreport.com\/karl-storz-enters-talks-to-acquire-asensus-surgical-through-letter-of-intent\/","title":{"rendered":"Karl Storz enters talks to acquire surgical robot developer Asensus Surgical"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Intelligent Surgical Unit powers the Senhance surgical robot system. | Source: Asensus Surgical<\/p><\/div>\n

Asensus Surgical Inc. today announced that it has entered into a non-binding letter of intent for medical device company Karl Storz SE to acquire it.<\/p>\n

The agreement enables Karl Storz<\/a> to engage in due diligence and negotiations over a potential acquisition of the surgical robot maker<\/a>. Asensus and Karl Storz began ollaborating<\/a> on plans for development and marketing just over a year ago.<\/p>\n

Entry into the letter of intent (LOI) follows an extensive period of consideration of strategic alternatives, stated<\/a> Asensus. That included potential collaborations and licensing transactions, a \u201cgo-it-alone\u201d strategy reliant upon significant fundraising, a sale of the company, or additional development transactions.<\/p>\n

Instead, the company\u2019s board approved the LOI with Karl Storz, which includes a proposal to acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding shares of Asensus common stock at 35\u00a2 per share in cash. That represents a 66.7% premium to the closing price of Asensus stock on April 2, 2024. Karl Storz said that the proposed price represents its \u201cbest and final offer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asensus developing Senhance, Intelligent Surgical Unit<\/h3>\n

Research Triangle Park, N.C-based Asensus is developing the Senhance<\/a> surgical robot. It has also developed the Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU<\/a>) for Senhance.<\/p>\n

The company<\/a> said it designed ISU as a real-time intraoperative surgical image analytics platform. It uses “augmented intelligence” to help reduce surgical variability.<\/p>\n

Asensus unveiled its the next-generation LUNA robot<\/a> in February 2023. The integrated digital system features a next-generation surgical platform and instruments, plus real-time intraoperative clinical intelligence. Its final component, a secure cloud platform, applies machine learning to deliver clinical insights.<\/p>\n

The company suggested last year that it targeted 2025<\/a> for U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for LUNA. In November, Asensus inked a manufacturing deal<\/a> for its platform.<\/p>\n

In January 2024, the company showed LUNA off to surgeons, conducting an in vivo lab evaluation<\/a> of the next-generation surgical robot. <\/p>\n