Medtronic to Buy Israeli Biotech Firm Mazor Robotics for $1.6 Billion

In the biggest-ever exit for an Israeli biotech firm, international medical technology company Medtronic will buy out Caesarea-based Mazor Robotics for $1.6 billion. Medtronic will acquire all outstanding shares of Mazor at an 11-percent premium over the price of Mazor shares on the NASDAQ exchange at the close of business Thursday.

Mazor, established in 2001, has developed robotics technology for use in spinal surgery. The robotics system designed by the company reduces or eliminate issues and errors in the extremely complicated spinal surgery process.

To date, more than 200 Mazor systems are in clinical use on four continents and have guided the placement of more than 250,000 implants during some 40,000 procedures, enabling minimally-invasive spinal surgery to become standard procedure in many hospitals.

Mazor’s core technology has received more than 15 U.S. Food and Drug Administration clearances and has been the subject of more than 60 publications, leading the spinal robotics market on the evidence front. Mazor is the holder of more than fifty patents worldwide.

This transaction builds on a relationship originated in May 2016 under a multiphased strategic and equity investment agreement between Medtronic and Mazor. In August 2017, Medtronic expanded the partnership to become the exclusive worldwide distributor of the Mazor X system, leading to the successful installation of more than 80 Mazor X systems since launch.

“Today is a historic day for spine surgery and a defining event in the market’s evolution, and I want to acknowledge and thank all of those whose contribution and faith have been so critical and impactful to our success,” said Ori Hadomi, CEO of Mazor Robotics. “The Mazor team and product portfolio’s full integration into Medtronic will maximize our impact globally through Medtronic’s channels, advance our systems’ leadership position in the marketplace, and drive the realization of our vision to heal through innovation.”