Luna Announces Sale of Shape-Sensing Technology for Medical Applications

Luna Innovations Inc. announced the sale of its shape-sensing technology for medical applications to Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

The terms of the deal include Luna receiving $12 million upfront in two tranches and up to an additional $18 million upon certain technical milestones and commercial measures. Intuitive will acquire Luna’s fiber optic shape-sensing and localization technology, including related patents, and hire a number of engineering employees formerly utilized in Luna’s medical shape-sensing business.

The sale will enable Luna to focus on the growth potential of its fiber-optic sensing business while significantly strengthening the company’s balance sheet. The sale contains provisions that maintain Luna’s ability to service its existing agreements and for the continued use and exploration of opportunities outside the medical industry.

“Luna develops technological solutions to problems that others cannot solve, and this is yet another successful example of how our technology ultimately reaches the market, in this case with a long-time development partner,” said My Chung, Luna president and CEO. “This sale is the culmination of the shape-sensing development we’ve done over the past several years for potentially integrating into Intuitive’s future products. One of the many benefits of this agreement is the ability to monetize much of the value of our innovations immediately – rather than waiting for longer-term revenues from development and potential supply agreements – while enabling us to streamline our focus on the growth opportunities that we believe exist for our strain/temperature sensing business, especially within the automotive and aerospace markets.”