Βιοτεχνολογία
Κορυφαίες 5 Μετοχές Ρομποτικής Χειρουργικής (Ιούνιος 2026)
Η Δύσκολη Τέχνη της Χειρουργικής
Surgery has been historically, and is still to this day, one of the most prestigious domains of medicine. It is in equal parts difficult to learn, a high-pressure job and requires perfect execution.
Για αυτόν τον λόγο, οι χειρουργοί είναι συχνά οι καλύτερα αμειβόμενοι γιατροί σε ένα νοσοκομείο. Και κατέχουν μεγάλη εξουσία εντός των ιατρικών οργανισμών.
Λαμβάνοντας υπόψη τη σημασία της δουλειάς τους και την επιρροή των χειρουργών, δεν είναι έκπληξη που μπορούν να ασκήσουν μεγάλη βαρύτητα κατά την απόφαση αγοράς εξοπλισμού. Έτσι είναι λογικό επίσης ότι ριζοσπαστικές (και ακριβές) καινοτομίες εισέρχονται πλέον στα χειρουργικά δωμάτια, αλλάζοντας ριζικά τον τρόπο διεξαγωγής των χειρουργικών επεμβάσεων.
Από τη Λαπαροσκοπία στη Ρομποτική Χειρουργική
Surgery has been a lot more technological than a man with a scalpel and nurses to help him for a few years now.
Για παράδειγμα, συσκευές λαπαροσκοπίας επέτρεψαν στους χειρουργούς να βλέπουν άμεσα ζωντανή ροή βίντεο των εσωτερικών οργάνων χρησιμοποιώντας μια εξαιρετικά μικρή είσοδο τομής. Η προηγμένη καυτηρίαση, οι ραφές κ.λπ… είναι επίσης μέρος του οπλοστασίου των χειρουργών για τη διάσωση ζωών των ασθενών.
Αλλά την τελευταία δεκαετία, η πρόοδος στην ηλεκτρονική και τη ρομποτική επέτρεψε τη διεξαγωγή της χειρουργικής από μια μηχανή. Όχι χωρίς χειρουργό που την ελέγχει, φυσικά. Αλλά τώρα μπορεί να είναι ένα ρομποτικό βραχίονα που κρατά σταθερά το εργαλείο, ακόμη και σε γωνίες ή κινήσεις που ένα ανθρώπινο βραχίονα δεν θα μπορούσε ποτέ να επιτύχει.
Μακριά από το να είναι απλώς μια ευκολία ή ένα εντυπωσιακό παιχνίδι για τους χειρουργούς, αυτό ωφελεί σημαντικά τους ασθενείς:
“Η ρομποτική χειρουργική αυξάνει την ακρίβεια, συντομεύει την ανάρρωση”
“Η Ρομποτική Χειρουργική Επαναπροσδιορίζει τη Φροντίδα των Ασθενών και το Χρόνο Ανάρρωσης”
Μερικές εταιρείες είναι υπεύθυνες για αυτή την επανάσταση. Και μερικές άλλες είναι στην ουρά τους, πρόθυμες να προλάβουν ή να βελτιώσουν αυτή τη ακόμη πολύ νέα τεχνολογία.
Δεν επιτρέπει μόνο καλύτερη φροντίδα, αλλά μπορεί επίσης να επιτρέψει απομακρυσμένη χειρουργική. Ένας ειδικός μπορεί να εκτελέσει τη χειρουργική ενώ βρίσκεται σε άλλη πόλη ή ακόμη και χώρα. Κάτι που θα θεωρούνταν καθαρή επιστημονική φαντασία πριν από μια ή δύο δεκαετίες.
Η αγορά για τη ρομποτική χειρουργική ήταν 4,4 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια το 2022, με αναμενόμενη ετήσια αύξηση 18% CAGR μέχρι το 2030, φθάνοντας τα 18,2 δισεκατομμύρια δολάρια.
Πηγή: Grand View Research
Top 5 Best Robotic Surgery Μετοχές
(Αυτή η λίστα μετοχών είναι ταξινομημένη κατά κεφαλαιοποίηση αγοράς τη στιγμή της συγγραφής αυτού του άρθρου)
1. Medtronic plc
(MDT
)
(MDT )
Medtronic is a medical device leader, especially in surgery and intensive care. While the other segments could also be considered as afferent to it, the medical surgical segment of Medtronic represents $2.1B of revenues, out of a total of $7.7B.
Πηγή: Medtronic
The company has been growing through organic growth, thanks to a large percentage of the R&D budget ($2.7B in 2022) and acquisitions (9 in 2022 and $3.3 worth of further acquisitions considered for 2023).
Medtronic sees a massive opportunity for simpler, low-cost robotic surgery:
“only 2% of surgeries around the world are held with the assistance of robots. There’s 98% out there that needs to be done via robotically-assisted surgery but not today because of the cost and utilization burdens,”
It is with that strategy in mind that Medtronic developed the Hugo system.
Πηγή: Medtronic
It also sells the Mazor X Stealth spinal robot-assisted surgery device, thanks to its $1.7 billion acquisition of Mazor Robotics in Δεκέμβριος 2018.
Overall, the sterling reputation of Medtronics and its presence in virtually every hospital for at least some equipment gives it a good entry point to capture a solid part of the nascent robotic surgery market, either through internal development or acquisitions.
2. Stryker Corporation
(SYK
)
(SYK )
Stryker is another leader in medical devices present in virtually every well-equipped hospital or clinic, treating up to 130 million patients annually. The largest segments are traumatology, endoscopy, and instruments.
Πηγή: Stryker
The company invests heavily in innovation, with $1.45B in R&D in 2022. It is also a serial acquirer, with 3 acquisitions in 2021. It also grew 7.2% yearly since 2019.
Πηγή: Stryker
Most of its sales have been to the US (74%), with plans to keep growing in foreign markets.
The company has been growing in the surgery segment, notably through its 2019 acquisition of OrthoSpace for orthopedic surgeries.
It also has the Mako, for a robotic-arm-assisted surgery dedicated to orthopedic surgery.
Πηγή: Stryker
With its strong focus on endoscopy and orthopedic surgery, Stryker is likely to become the robotic surgery leader in this segment, which is also growing with an aging population.
3. Intuitive Surgical, Inc.
(ISRG
)
(ISRG )
While other large medical device companies are now venturing into robotic surgery, the segment’s pioneer was Intuitive Surgical. Its Da Vinci robot is still, to this day, the most powerful, popular, and expensive robotic surgery platform on the market.
It also has launched Ion, a bronchoscopy platform for minimally invasive lung biopsy, and a medical data platform, Intuitive Hub.
Πηγή: Intuitive
1,200 Da Vinci robots have performed a total of 12 million surgeries to date, of which 1.8 million in 2022. The installed base grew 12% year-to-year, and the procedures grew 26% year-to-year.
Πηγή: Intuitive
Intuitive revenues have grown 12% CAGR since 2018. A strong driver is how already equipped hospitals keep reinvesting, with a growing number of hospitals with more than 7 systems.
Most of the revenues (79%) are from recurring sources, like instruments, accessories, services, etc…
Πηγή: Intuitive
Ion launch has also been impressive, with 376 installed since 2020 and 10,200 procedures.
The company is still waiting for regulators’ clearance for its devices to be used in colorectal surgery, thoracic surgery, and for approval in Korea and Japan.
Intuitive is by far the company with the most impressive reputation in the sector. The combination of more surgeons trained on the device, more robots per hospital, more hospitals buying it, and new applications green-lighted by regulators should support the company’s growth for the foreseeable future.
Investors will want to carefully account for that growth in their valuation model, as the company is very expensive compared to its current earnings. This reflects both the company’s quality and market enthusiasm for the stock.
4. Globus Medical, Inc.
(GMED
)
(GMED )
Globus is specialized in musculoskeletal disorders (spine, joints, etc…), including traumatology.
It developed Excelsius, “a rigid robotic arm and full navigation capabilities into one platform.” The robot has performed 30,000 cases since 2017, thanks to a utilization rate per robot at an all-time high, reflecting a deepening adoption of the tools by surgeons.
Πηγή: Globus Medical
Globus is merging in an all-stock transaction with NuVasive to reinforce its importance in spine medical treatments. NuVasive describes itself as “the fastest growing, full-line spine company.” Globus Medical shareholders will own approximately 72% of the combined company.
The company grew sales by 20% in Q1 2023 (compared to Q1 2022).
While not as large as Intuitive or as diversified as Stryker or Medtronic, Globus is starting to dominate the spine/musculoskeletal niche, and the coming merger should only reinforce this trend. Considering its lower valuation ratio, this might be a good pick for value investors looking for a cheaper stock with still a high-quality profile and strong growth.
5. Asensus Surgical, Inc.
(ASXC
)
(ASXC )
Asensus has developed the Senhance robot system for digital laparoscopy. It allows for 50% smaller incisions than traditional robotic surgery, for a similar cost per procedure and using existing infrastructure and surgery rooms.
Πηγή: Asensus
The company is already working on the next generation of devices, the LUNA platform. It also announced the launch of an upgrade of existing systems, with “Augmented Intelligence (AI) driven control of the camera enabling the surgeon to focus on other critical surgical tasks.”
Asensus signed a collaboration with Karl Storz, the competitor of Stryker in laparoscopy, for using Asensus’ Intelligent Surgical Unit (ISU) with their imaging systems. The 2 companies are also going to work together on developing next-generation instrumentation.
Despite its smaller size, Asensus seems to hold against Intuitive regarding technical performances, at least for some applications like benign hysterectomy, with the same procedure time for less than half the cost.
Πηγή: Asensus
Procedures performed are growing, with most of them general surgery.
Πηγή: Asensus
With only over 100 surgeons using Asensus systems at the moment, the company is just beginning. But with the Karl Storz deal, it should reach a lot wider than alone, at a lower client acquisition cost, while benefiting from the endorsement of the larger company from a reputation point of view.
Investors in Asensus will be interested in the growth potential, the solid technology, the potential of the LUNA platform, and the cost efficiency per procedure. They should also consider the option of a possible acquisition of Asensus by a leading and larger medical device company, such as Karl Storz (a private company).
