SS Innovations buys US firm, eyes global market with made-in-India surgical robots

Representational image.

SS Innovations, a med-tech startup, which recently launched India’s first fully indigenous robotic surgery system SSI Mantra, aims to go global by acquiring a US company listed on NASDAQ.

The company, helmed by robotic cardiac surgeon Dr Sudhir Srivastava, on November 17 announced that it has gained access to global capital and market by acquiring a controlling interest in the US-based Avra Medical Robotics.

The firm is also looking to tie up with various public sector hospitals in I ndia to raise the standards of surgical outcomes for underserved population locally.

“This acquisition will help us reach the global market and our innovation will be used widely,” said Srivastava. “As we know that the future of med tech lies in the precision of surgery, this acquisition will help us to bring this Make in India technology to the global platform.”

According to Srivastava, the acquisition allows the company access to public platforms in terms of fundraising.

“Normally, the listing process takes almost two years and is very expensive. But this (acquisition) allows us to be able to raise $100 million-$200 million, very rapidly - I am talking about months,” Srivastava told Moneycontrol.

“So that is a huge advantage and although we have launched certain systems, we need to get at a very different level because of demand that is coming in terms of orders and creating infrastructure supply chains,” he said.

Srivastava added that capital is crucial and the acquisition of Avra will allow the firm to maintain control while the product will be made in India with headquarters here. “And, of course, gradually our attempt is to absolutely go global,” he said.

The firm says SSI Mantra has more and better features and applications than existing systems and the machine will also help mainstream the idea of surgical practices in India and around the world in terms of precision and significant cost reduction, making expensive robotic surgery available for the common people.

Srivastava said while SSI Mantra is or going to be available at three private hospitals in India - one each in Delhi, Raipur and Hyderabad, his company is also in talks with some government universities and hospitals to make it available for people with lesser means to access quality healthcare.

Robotic surgery, also referred to as robot-assisted surgery, permits doctors to perform different types of complex procedures with more precision, flexibility and control than is possible with conventional techniques.

It is usually associated with minimally invasive surgery — procedures performed through tiny incisions but can also sometimes be used in certain traditional open surgical procedures.

Doctors say that robots allow even average surgeons to achieve better precision and clinical outcomes while for patients it may mean lesser time in the hospital and quicker recoveries.

Srivastava said SSI Mantra has also provided cost-effective means to enhance the experience of surgery for patients at just an extra cost of Rs 50-60,000 for most surgeries.