Mazor reported a 14.8 percent decline in second quarter revenue due to the transition of the company after partnering with Medtronic to distribute the Mazor X. This was a planned transition period, according to CEO Ori Hadomi, and now the company has its sights set on new technology and expanding its imprint internationally and in the ASC market.
Here are five key updates from Mr. Hadomi during the second quarter conference call, as transcribed by Seeking Alpha:
On the partnership with Medtronic: "We are experiencing higher system volume and seeing first-hand the level of hospitals and customers that Medtronic can reach. During the quarter, internationally recognized hospitals and academic centers in the U.S. purchased Mazor X. These are locations that Mazor would not have access to on its own."
On new technology development: "We have been collaborating with Medtronic on a program which is a multidisciplinary co-developed effort to integrate its market-leading legacy Stealth Navigation System onto our Mazor X robotic guidance platform…it will allow surgeons to perform 3D planning, robotic-guided execution and real-time op verification of the planned surgical goals."
On ASC market penetration: "Our primary focus for the Renaissance is the development and penetration of the approximately 5,000-strong regulatory surgical centers, or ASCs, market in the United States. We also have flexible business models as we believe the system's lower price point is a distinct advantage and provisions Mazor to provide the robotic guidance solution for this segment. It aligns with the overall desire to lower cost by taking some of the simplest spine procedures out of the hospital setting so we believe the timing is optimal to drive the strategy. I am very pleased with the progress as we install systems in several locations, [at] which we are performing clinical procedures regularly."
On a pilot program with an ASC chain: "The pilot program we have previously mentioned with a major ASC chain is progressing well and we are confident that it will develop into future sales and growth opportunities. The continued adoption by ASCs will provide more patients access to the clinical benefits of our robotic technology."
On a new clinical study for robotic spine surgery: "Data from our MIS ReFRESH study was recently presented at the Global Spine Congress and the International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques. As a reminder, MIS ReFRESH is a prospective multicenter comparative study of complications and revisions rate in Mazor core base robotic-guided procedures, versus fluoro-guided MIS procedures, and the complication rates were almost four times lower and the revision rates almost nine-fold lower compared to the control arm even in the single-level cases."