Dive Brief:
- Neptune Medical’s gastrointestinal robot met both of its primary endpoints in a clinical trial assessing the safety and feasibility of the system to perform colonoscopies.
- The study followed 50 adults who underwent screening, surveillance or diagnostic colonoscopy with the robotic endoscopy system at a single center in Poland for 14 days after the procedure.
- The results, announced Tuesday, showed no adverse events and a 100% rate of cecal intubation, where the endoscope is guided through the entire colon to the beginning of the large intestine.
Dive Insight:
Neptune Medical has designed the Triton robot to improve physicians’ capabilities for performing diagnostic colonoscopies, endoscopic mucosal resections and endoscopic submucosal dissections in the lower GI tract. The system is not yet authorized for sale in the U.S. or international markets.
Results of the CARE 1 first-in-human study, which were presented at the Digestive Disease Week meeting in Chicago, showed a 67.5% polyp detection rate and 54.2% adenoma detection rate.
The Burlingame, California-based company said the system also demonstrated a favorable ergonomic environment for endoscopists.
“These early promising results suggest that Triton may enable us to perform a large number of high-quality colonoscopies in a day with minimal fatigue, empowering us to respond to increasing colonoscopy demands in the United States,” study investigator Jason Samarasena, chief of gastroenterology and hepatology at the University of California, Irvine, said in Neptune Medical’s statement.
The robot developer raised $97 million in a 2024 financing round backed by Sonder Capital and Olympus, among others. After completing the Series D round, Neptune Medical spun out its Jupiter Endovascular subsidiary, allowing the company to strengthen its focus on robotics for GI disease.
Olympus is also working on endoscopic robotic technologies for gastroenterology, through a partnership with Revival Healthcare Capital, and this week announced a separate deal to distribute EndoRobotics’ endoscopic robotic devices.
