Auris Health raises $220M for medical robotics platform

Auris Health closed a $220 million equity financing round to support its next-generation Monarch robotic interventional platform. The funding round brings the total raised for the Auris Health Monarch surgical platform up to $700 million over four rounds, Auris Health said.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Auris Health said the round was led by Partner Fund Management and joined by newly invested Wellington Management, D1 Capital Partners and Senator Investment Group and existing investors Mithril Capital, Lux Capital and Viking Global Investors.

The company was founded by CEO Fred Moll 11 years ago. Moll is a medical robotics pioneer who previously co-founded Intuitive Surgical, among other medical technology companies.

“The support of this group of world-class investors will be instrumental as Auris transitions into a commercial-stage company. We are pleased with our progress in launching the Monarch platform, which was initiated earlier this year. This funding will enable us to expand our commercialization efforts for endobronchial applications, and will also support our mission to pioneer the next era of medical intervention across a broader spectrum of procedures,” founder & CEO Dr. Frederic Moll said in a press release.

Auris Health’s robotic Monarch platform has FDA clearance for diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopic procedures. The system features a controller interface for navigating the integrated flexible robotic endoscope into the periphery of the lung and combines traditional endoscopic views with computer-assisted navigation based on 3D patient models, the company said.

In October, Auris Health, previously known as Auris Surgical Robotics, touted results from a study of its Monarch platform that indicated that the system was able to reach lung nodules and biopsy tissue with “high accuracy.” The Monarch system

Auris says Monarch had a limited launch earlier in 2018, and the funding will help the company move into full commercialization. Auris Health sells the Monarch robotic system directly to hospitals for $500,000. The system generates additional revenue from instrument sales based on use of the technology, as well as service agreements.

In August 2017, Auris stealthily raised a massive $280 million in a Series D round. The company also turned heads in April 2016 when it bought Hansen Medical, which Moll co-founded, for $80 million.