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Ambix Healthcare Partners Leads Funding Round Bringing New Surgical Robot To Market

BALTIMORE, Nov. 1, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Galen Robotics, the Digital-Surgery-as-a-Service ™ pioneer, today announced it has completed the 1st close for an oversubscribed Series A round with $15 million in funding, including investment from Ambix Healthcare Partners, from Menlo Park, CA.

Galen Robotics has submitted a new collaborative soft tissue surgical robot, intended to address unmet needs in the market, to FDA for consideration.  Galen plans to level the surgical playing field by erasing large capital expenditures associated with today’s surgical robots. Galen Robotics will be the first surgical robotics company to launch as  “as-a-service” using the per-usage disposable model. Termed Digital-Surgery-as-a-Service, is a new approach to surgical robotics, clearing the way to capture surgical data and promote continuous improvements of surgical techniques, outcomes, and the training of residents.
The Series A helped complete the final robot prototype, and submission to FDA. Funds will also be used to develop a clinical sales team, expand engineering, grow product development, and develop surgeon training programs.

Galen Robotics, which is commercializing a surgical robot developed at a Johns Hopkins research lab, has announced the first close of a Series A round, after raising $15 million from investors led by California’s Ambix Healthcare Partners. It simultaneously announced a second close for its Series A worth an additional $5 million.

“We will be the first robotic company to launch using an on-demand business model,” said Galen Robotics CEO Bruce Lichorowic, after the Baltimore startup swiftly pivoted from trying to sell its robots to a so-called “digital-surgery-as-a-service” model. The switch makes Galen’s robotic services more affordable for hospitals that have financially struggled since the coronavirus pandemic amid a sharp drop in elective surgeries.

United Therapeutics is continuing to buy properties near its downtown Silver Spring corporate headquarters at 1040 Spring St.

Dewey Steadman, director of investor relations for the drug manufacturer, confirmed a report in the Washington Business Journal of the purchase of 8905 Fairview Rd. for $11.85 million, including a parking lot across the street.

Image: https://www.sourceofthespring.com

Great entrepreneurs can come from anywhere, but some universities have a truly exceptional track record of producing future entrepreneurs.

PitchBook’s annual university rankings compare schools by tallying up the number of alumni entrepreneurs who have founded venture capital-backed companies. The undergraduate and graduate rankings are powered by PitchBook data and are based on an analysis of more than 144,000 VC-backed founders.

Maryland life sciences and biotechnology companies have been at the forefront of the state’s public health response and economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. However, lawmakers are considering policies that weaken the very backbone of Maryland’s robust innovation economy at a time where protecting this industry had never been more critical. Without the necessary policies and protections in place, essential innovation and research, such as COVID-19 clinical trials and cybersecurity development taking place right here in Maryland, could be forced to come to a screeching halt.

Image: Scientists work on the vaccine purification process as they design updates to the Novavax’s COVID-19 shots in the company’s research laboratory on May 24, 2022, in Gaithersburg, Maryland. In July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized use of Novavax’s more traditional kind of COVID-19 vaccine, which the company hopes can win over unvaccinated people and become a top choice for boosters. (AP Photo/Angie Wang) (Angie Wang/AP)

BioHealth Innovation, Inc. (BHI) and Montgomery County are pleased to announce Jennifer R. Butler as the first Montgomery County “Executive in Residence”—a pilot project dedicated to providing 1:1 technical assistance to Montgomery County-based biotech startups.  

This is a year-long collaboration between the county government, which is funding the work as part of its mission to grow the local life sciences cluster, and BHI, a regional innovation intermediary supporting technology commercialization throughout Maryland, D.C., and Virginia.

The Polaris Genomics Leadership team of CEO Charles Cathlin, MPH, CSO Tshaka Cunningham, PhD, and CMO Anne Naclerio, MD, MPH visit BioTalk to discuss competing in the 7th Annual Crab Trap Competition, being a Veteran-Owned Business and growing in BioHealth Capital Region.

Listen now via Apple https://apple.co/3DOUiLK, Google https://bit.ly/3fowyob, or Spotify https://spoti.fi/3DNfd1F3

“There’s more dry powder powder than ever before.”

“There’s never been a better time to start a startup.”

“Discipline is the new scale.” (OK, OK, I made that last one up, but didn’t you kind of believe it?).

The tech industry loves generalizations — and don’t worry, I enjoy my fair share too — but as the downturn continues to play out, it’s increasingly important to think about the structural changes that may be forming in the venture capital landscape. Venture firms, unlike unicorns, often don’t have hundreds of employees to cut. Instead, venture firms cut costs in quieter ways.