J&J’s Auris Acquisition Featured in Forbes Article
Forbes recently featured Auris in an article about Johnson & Johnson`s $3.5 billion all-cash acquisition of the company. In the deal, Auris is also eligible to receive up to $2.35 billion in additional milestone payments. This deal will boost J&J`s plan to expand its robotics program.
Auris was joined in 2007 by one of the pioneers of the robotic surgery, Dr. Fred Moll and since then Auris has raised over $800 million in debt and equity financing to date. Auris`s technology, called the Monarch Platform, received FDA approval for use in diagnostic and therapeutic bronchoscopy in 2018. Pitchbook valued Auris at $2.2 billion following its most recent Series D1 funding round in November.
J&J has sought entry into the robotics market since at least 2015, when they entered into a joint venture with Google-parent Alphabet, creating robotic surgery startup Verb Surgical. J&J has also partnered with Auris in the past, with an agreement to combine J&J`s Neuwave platform with the Monarch Platform.
Analyst Joanne Wuensch of BMO Capital Markets said of the acquisition, "Investors have been yearning for an acquisition for JNJ`s MedTech." Wuensch also believes that the Monarch Platform will complement J&J`s current pulmonary hypertension pharmaceutical division.
The deal will help J&J compete with robotic surgery market leader Intuitive Surgical, who are awaiting FDA approval for a robotic-assisted bronchoscope device similar to Auris`s Monarch Platform.
Independent investment banking advisory firm Evercore estimates "a 5x enterprise value-to-normalized sales could put the lung biopsy potential revenue opportunity at $700 million."