PROCEPT BioRobotics, which is developing surgical robots urological procedures, raised $85 million in Series G financing. The round was led by Fidelity Management & Research Company. PROCEPT said the funding will support global commercial expansion of its AquaBeam Robotic System, an image-guided surgical robot system for use in minimally-invasive urologic surgery.
San Francisco-based PROCEPT has now raised more than $360 million since it was founded in 2007. The company raised a $118 million Series E round in February 2018.
PROCEPT’s AquaBeam surgical robotics system.
The robot system delivers aquablation therapy, image-guided robotic therapy for the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). The therapy is designed to offer predictable and reproducible outcomes, independent of prostate anatomy, prostate size, or surgeon experience, according to PROCEPT.
BPH prevalence increases with age, and in the U.S. it impacts nearly 50% of men in their 50s, and 70% of men in their 60s. PROCEPT BioRobotics said BPH is the top reason a man visits a urologist, and currently impacts 40 million men in the U.S. Left untreated, this can lead to bladder, urinary tract or kidney problems.
“Aquablation’s combination of safety and efficacy provide millions of men dealing with the disease of BPH an option that addresses the tradeoffs that exist with current treatment options,” said Reza Zadno, president and CEO of PROCEPT. “We expect this capital will enable us to continue scaling our commercialization efforts to met the global demand for Aquablation.”
The round also included investments from T.Rowe Price Associates, CPMG, Perceptive Advisors, Viking Global Investors, and Duquesne Family Office.
There has been a flurry of acquisitions and investments made into surgical robotics companies in 2021. Earlier this week, U.K.-based CMR Surgical raised $600 million in Series D funding for its Versius system.
Stryker kicked off the year acquiring OrthoSensor, and its Verasense intraoperative sensor technology, to improve its Mako robots. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
In February, EndoWays, an Israeli developer of a disposable robotic system for the cathlab, was acquired by Ascendum Capital, a healthcare-focused investment platform founded in 2020.
Edge Medical Robotics and Memic raised funding rounds of $92 million and $96 million, respectively. Vicarious Surgical is going public via a $1.1 billion special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) deal with D8 Holdings. Memic is also reportedly discussing going public via SPAC.
Having watched the robotics developments since the mid 1970, we are approaching the time when medicine will be expected to include robots. In parallel has been the materials science advancements, and imagining developments. Mankind is now on the doorstep of the integration of all of that plus the recent CRISPR advances in nanoscience that use In Vivo activation or deployment of nanosolutions to genetic disorders.