Jianjia Robot (键嘉医疗), a surgical robot developer, has had its IPO application accepted for review, Chinese media reported yesterday.
The Hangzhou-headquartered firm filed a prospectus on April 2 with Shanghai Stock Exchange to list on the Nasdaq-style STAR market, planning to raise 1.5 billion yuan (US$218 million).
Jianjia, founded in 2018, specializes in the design, manufacturing and sale of orthopedic and dental surgical robots.
It has developed a range of robotic products catering to operations on joint, spine, injury and dental implants. The startup has also branched out into sports medicine and neurosurgery.
Specifically, its Arthrobot series can assist in hip, knee and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, or surgical joint replacement.
This makes it one of a few homegrown players to break the long-term monopoly of foreign rivals in this realm.
The robot became the first among domestic peers to land a license from National Medical Product Administration (NMPA) in April 2022, paving the way for its real-life application, according to media reports.
Jianjia claimed that Arthrobot possesses “apparent” strengths in procedural management, prosthesis implant, effect assessment, relative to traditional arthroplasty devices.
Traditionally, artificial hip joint replacement depends entirely upon the experience and intuitive judgment by the presiding surgeon, for it is difficult to control the implant insertion angles and depths.
To alleviate this pain point, Jianjia equipped Arthrobot with high-precision, low-latency navigation technologies, which can project the real-time data and imagery of the insertion processes onto a screen.
Jianjia says the robotic arms of Arthrobot and safety barriers help surgeons complete the insertion with accuracy, speed and safety.
After obtaining the certificates needed for hip, knee and unicompartmental knee arthroplasty, doctors can treat different diseases by switching between navigation software and end effectors that are available on the Arthrobot surgical system.
The platform is compatible with different brands and types of prostheses from home and abroad, the firm states.
Jianjia’s prospectus indicates that its Arthrobot hip replacement robot has won the bids of six domestic hospitals, becoming the first Chinese company to be chosen as a supplier of joint implant robot.
To date, Jianjia has raised funds from GL Ventures, Tiger Global Management, LYFE Capital, Baidu’s venture capital arm, Fosun Pharma, Puhua Capital and SoftBank China.
