During the visit last Thursday (11 October), the Health and Social Care Secretary trialled the Versius system, met its designers and discussed the company’s plans to introduce Versius into the National Health Service with Chief Executive Officer, Martin Frost.
The Secretary of State’s visit occurred just weeks after the company revealed its next-generation surgical robot, Versius, which has been designed by CMR Surgical’s Cambridge team to meet the complex requirements of minimal access surgery. It also follows CMR Surgical’s record-breaking Series-B funding round in June that raised $100 million;the largest ever Series-B raise by a medical device company in Europe.
Commenting on the visit, Matt Hancock said: “This technology has the potential to make keyhole surgery safer, more accessible and could mean millions of patients will not have to undergo invasive procedures.”
“As part of our long-term plan for the NHS, we want to create an ecosystem for innovation to allow the NHS to benefit from other ground-breaking technologies and treatments.”
Martin Frost, CEO, CMR Surgical, said: “The visit from the Health and Social Care Secretary comes at a hugely exciting time for CMR Surgical. We were delighted to welcome Matt and to discuss with him how the NHS can continue to be a world-leader in adopting the latest technology for the benefit of patients.”
CMR Surgical has more than doubled in size in twelve months and now employs over 250 people. The company is currently undergoing validation studies for regulatory approval processes in Europe. Versius will be used in hospitals in the UK and continental Europe in the next year, with wider international expansion shortly afterwards.