Dive Brief:
- Robot developer Vicarious Surgical, which raised more than $425 million from investors including Bill Gates before its 2021 initial public offering, has obtained approval from shareholders to wind down and liquidate the business.
- Shareholders voted at a special meeting Tuesday to enter into an assignment for the benefit of creditors, an alternative to bankruptcy. The process transfers a company’s assets into a trust for distribution to creditors.
- Vicarious was working to develop a single-port surgical robot that “shrinks the surgeon” to perform procedures inside the patient’s abdomen but faced a series of delays in bringing the device to market and last year canceled plans for a clinical trial as it pushed to finish the design for the commercial version of the system.
Dive Insight:
Vicarious is shutting down 12 years after it was formed with the ambitious goals of improving patient outcomes, increasing surgical efficiency and addressing what its founders saw as significant limitations to legacy robotic platforms. Its 2021 merger with D8 Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, valued the company at $1.1 billion.
Vicarious’ technology, with miniaturized arms and camera inserted through a single tiny incision in the abdomen, was the first surgical robot granted a breakthrough device designation from the Food and Drug Administration. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company had hoped to submit a filing to the FDA for use of the robot in ventral hernia procedures as its first indication.
However, Vicarious was never able to achieve regulatory authorization for the system, as it burned through cash. Less than a year ago, the company brought in Stephen From as CEO, replacing co-founder Adam Sachs in the position.
From quickly scrapped plans for a clinical trial and outsourced some aspects of the robot’s design in a bid to save money.
Vicarious moved its shares to the over-the-counter market earlier this year after receiving a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange.
In June, the company’s board recommended that shareholders approve a plan to shutter the business, after it failed to secure additional funds or find a buyer, and operating losses continued to mount. Vicarious employed 26 people as of March 9.
Vicarious intended to file with the Delaware Secretary of State to dissolve the company as early as Wednesday, according to a securities filing.
