Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Johnson & Johnson And Google Team Up To Build Better Surgical Robots
Johnson & Johnson and Alphabet Inc's life sciences unit have formed an independent company to create far smaller, smarter and less costly robotic-assisted systems for surgery than those sold now by other companies, J&J said on Thursday. Creation of the new company, Verb Surgical Inc, follows an announcement in March by J&J and Google Inc of their plans to pool their technologies and expertise to create robotics for the operating room. Google has since changed its name to Alphabet, and its life sciences unit is now called Verily. (Pierson, 12/10)
Johnson & Johnson and Verily Life Sciences LLC, formerly known as Google Life Sciences, have formed a new company to develop the next generation of robotic-assisted tools for surgeons. The venture, which will be called Verb Surgical Inc., is the latest partnership between the California tech giant and the health-care industry, after earlier collaborations with Biogen Inc., Novartis AG and Sanofi. (Koons, 12/10)
