Luna Receives Second Payment of $6 Million from Intuitive Surgical

Luna Innovations Inc. announced that it has received the second payment of $6 million as originally agreed upon with Intuitive Surgical, Inc.

The payment is related to the sale of Luna’s shape-sensing technology for medical applications that was executed with Intuitive in January of this year. In accordance with the terms of the deal, Luna has now received a total of $12 million from Intuitive, and may receive up to an additional $18 million in the future upon the achievement of certain technical milestones and commercial measures.

The sale, which may generate proceeds of up to $30 million, has enabled Luna to focus on the growth potential of its fiber-optic sensing business, specifically toward serving the strain and temperature sensing industries through its ODiSI product line.

“Completing the transaction with Intuitive provided two key benefits for us,” said Luna president and CEO My Chung. “First, it gave us the opportunity to monetize the shape-sensing technology in the medical area on an accelerated pace, having received $12 million in the first half of the year. Second, it has allowed us to concentrate our focus and devote the necessary resources to drive the increased adoption of our solutions for fiber optic sensing of strain and temperature. We have targeted a portion of the proceeds to further expand our sales force, enhance our marketing efforts and continue to improve the functionality of our ODiSI platform.”

With strain and temperature sensing now as its key focus, Luna will continue to develop technological solutions for a growing market. Its core team of engineers is driving technological improvements as Luna continues to focus on marketing the ODiSI platform in automotive, aerospace and energy applications.