Johnson & Johnson ($JNJ) announced yesterday that Ethicon has completed the acquisition of Auris Health for approximately $3.4 billion in cash as well as the divestiture of its Advanced Sterilization Products (ASP) business to Fortive Corporation for an aggregate value of approximately $2.8 billion.
Auris Health is an important acquisition for JNJ as they enter the digital surgery market with the Auris Monarch System, which is used in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in the lung, helping combat lung cancer. Monarch will compete with Intuitive Surgical’s ION system, which was recently cleared by the FDA.
The Monarch System will also compliment JNJ’s other robotic platforms which are currently in developer with Verb Surgical and will focus on general surgery.
The Auris technology complements robotic platform technologies currently in development in general surgery with Verb Surgical and in orthopaedics through their said.
“We are focused on building a connected, data-driven digital ecosystem that pairs our market-leading surgical solutions with advanced technologies to improve the patient experience,” said Ashley McEvoy, Executive Vice President, Worldwide Chairman, Medical Devices, Johnson & Johnson. “The passionate team and differentiated innovation from Auris will help us amplify the power of digital surgery to address unmet clinical needs and lead a transformation in surgical care and lung cancer intervention.”
