The new surgical robot Epione® has a promising future. Based in Montpellier,
Quantum Surgical plans to launch it this year.
“The clinical trial with the Montpellier CHU university hospital and Institut Gustave Roussy in Paris was completed in early 2021. We are now waiting for regulatory approval, which should arrive by this summer, in order to begin marketing in Europe,” says Bertin Nahum, co-founder of the company.
Epione®, whose name comes from the wife of Asclepios – the god of medicine in Greek mythology – is a completely innovative robotic platform to assist practitioners with surgical treatment of liver cancer. The robot’s extreme precision enables highly targeted non-invasive interventions, which makes it possible to treat people via outpatient care, offering real progress in terms of comfort and quality for patients. In November,
Epione® successfully treated a Institut Gustave Roussy patient with a hepatic tumor. The patient was able to return home in the evening of the same day the intervention took place.
Founded in 2017, Quantum Surgical has been moving forward in giant steps. Additional funding for 40 M€ is currently being prepared. The fundraising, which could be completed this year, will give the company further resources to pursue its goals. With widespread presence in the healthtech sector, the Asia-based Ally Bridge Group, which funded the first investment round in 2018, is expected to be joined by new international investors.
In parallel, Quantum Surgical continues to hire new staff. Some thirty new jobs are planned for 2021, bringing total staff size to 110 employees.
In addition to Quantum Surgical’s own growth, Zimmer Biomet Robotics is also doing well. In 2016, Zimmer Biomet Robotics acquired Medtech, the previous company founded by Bertin Nahum. An excellence cluster in surgical robotics is emerging in the Montpellier Métropole area.
“While we focus on doing business globally, we are also very strongly rooted in our territory,” insists Bertin Nahum, whose company works with the University of Montpellier’s Faculty of Medicine to establish programs with dedicated curricula in the health sector.
He is also fully committed to helping organize the sector, which is directly in line with the stakes and values of the Med Valley project, and he is integrating his approach into a more global strategy to reindustrialize France in sectors with high value added.
