Letter of Commitment Seals Co-Development Relationship to Create Best-in-Class Cataract Removal System for Use by Ophthalmologists
IRVINE, CA and REDWOOD CITY, CA-- BIOLASE, Inc. (NASDAQ: BIOL), the world's leading manufacturer and distributor of dental lasers, and a pioneer in laser surgery in other medical specialties, and Auris Surgical Robotics, Inc. ("Auris"), the developer of a robotic microsurgical system designed specifically for ophthalmic surgery, announced jointly today that they have signed a letter of commitment to develop a new product for ophthalmologists. The product is planned to feature BIOLASE's patented WaterLase YSGG all-tissue atraumatic cutting technology mounted on a unique robotic operating system manufactured by Auris.
"We evaluated a variety of advanced cutting technologies for use in our robotic cataract-removal system," said Frederic Moll, M.D., Chairman and CEO of Auris. "For cutting precision, system compatibility, and lack of tissue trauma, we found significant advantages in using BIOLASE's Waterlase technology. We anticipate that our system will have major advantages over traditional phacoemulsification and should create a new standard for safety, speed, and effectiveness in cataract removal."
The goal of the product in development is to improve the precision, safety, and predictability of cataract-removal procedures, similar to the way other telerobotic systems have enhanced therapeutic effectiveness of procedures such as prostatectomy, fibroidectomy, and knee hemi-arthroplasty. The development is in the feasibility and prototyping phase.
"We believe the BIOLASE-Auris collaboration marks the beginning of a wide adoption of WaterLase technology in ophthalmology," said Federico Pignatelli, Chairman and CEO of BIOLASE. "It's also a good example of the versatility of WaterLase technology in a non-dental field. Our Occulase Division was created to focus our ophthalmology resources for development, co-development, and licensing. We are delighted that the first concrete agreement to result from this is with a company founded and run by the founder of Intuitive Surgical, Inc., our board member Fred Moll."
Pignatelli continued, "Robotics in medicine is gaining traction. This is appearing in corporate decision-making, such as last week's announced acquisition of Robotics company MAKO Surgical by Stryker Corporation. Serendipitously, the co-founder of MAKO Surgical is the Chairman and CEO of Auris Surgical Robotics, again Fred Moll, M.D."