HEALTH SPECIAL
Dr Yadi, one of five co-founders of the firm, says the Closed Loop approach could be applied across a wide variety of conditions where treatment involves drug and behavioural elements, and initial areas of focus include sleep disturbance and hypertension. In July it raised £1.3m to fund a research programme looking at a combined drug and digital approach to manage high blood pressure. “No two patients are the same, and our vision is to put the power of therapy in the hands of the individual, so they can benefit from a truly personalised treatment,” he says. closedloopmedicine.com operating theatre near you soon, and Cambridge’s CMR Surgical is hoping to grab a big slice of the market. The company is the developer of Versius, a next-generation surgical robot that can perform minimal access, or keyhole, surgery in a range of different areas. Keyhole surgery is far less risky than carrying out an open procedure, and it is hoped the rise of robots such as Versius will help reduce the number of open operations carried out around the world. Small and portable, meaning it can easily be transferred between operating suites and even different hospitals, CMR believes Versius will also help improve hospital efficiency. The company was founded in 2014, and has grown rapidly in the last five years, closing a record-breaking Series B financing round in 2018. In total the round raised $100m, the largest amount ever secured by a European medical device business. It has since moved into a purpose-built global headquarters at Evolution Business Park near Milton. Versius itself received the European CE mark in March, and has CMR Surgical Robots will be coming to an
been through various rounds of trials already, including carrying out its first operations on human patients. It undertook 30 laparoscopic procedures as part of a clinical trial at Deenanath Mangeshkar Hospital & Research Center in Pune, India. The surgeries consisted of minor, intermediate and major gynaecological and upper gastrointestinal procedures, and no
adverse effects were reported as a result of the use of Versius after a 30 day follow-up. “This first-in-human series is a significant milestone in bringing Versius to operating theatres around the world,” explains Mark Slack, chief medical officer at CMR Surgical. “These initial results are positive and we look forward to further advancing our mission to bring the benefits of minimal access surgery to everyone who needs it. This series is part of our drive for the responsible introduction of surgical robotic systems that puts safety and effectiveness above all else,” he concludes. cmrsurgical.com
ABOVE CMR developedVersius, anext-generation surgical robot thatcanperform minimalaccessand keyholesurgery
We look forward to further advancing our mission to bring the benefits of minimal access surgery to everyone who needs it"
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