Surgical Robotics: J&J‘s OTTAVA Receives FDA Approval; Robotics Competitive Implications

Research evidence excerpt

Surgical Robotics: J&J‘s OTTAVA Receives FDA Approval; Robotics Competitive Implications

J P M O R G A N North America Equity Research

22 July 2026

Surgical Robotics

J&J’s OTTAVA Receives FDA Approval; Robotics

Competitive Implications

J&J (covered by JPM Analyst Chris Schott) announced today that it received FDA Medical Supplies & Devices

de novo approval for its OTTAVA robotic surgical system. The platform received Robbie Marcus, CFA AC

approval for multiple procedures in general surgery, including Roux-en-Y gastric (1-212) 622-6657

bypass, gastrectomy, cholecystectomy, splenectomy, gastric sleeve, small bowel robert.j.marcus@jpmorgan.com

resection, appendectomy, lysis of adhesions, fundoplication, and hiatal hernia Lilia-Celine B Lozada

repair, and a US clinical trial for inguinal hernia procedures is ongoing. J&J will (1-212) 622-1019

lilia-celine.b.lozada@jpmchase.com

begin a limited launch with select customers in the US, though given J&J’s speed

Allen Gong

to market so far and what we’ve seen so far from Medtronic, we wouldn’t be

(1-212) 622-9520

surprised if J&J waits for the urology indications to be approved along with the allen.gong@jpmorgan.com

majority of instruments before initiating a full launch. While OTTAVA has some Henry Householter

interesting selling points (namely the smaller footprint and unique bedside (1-212) 464-5599

attachment vs. freestanding), our doc checks continue to point to Intuitive’s da henry.householter@jpmorgan.com

Vinci as the clear favorite given its physician relationships and entrenched J.P. Morgan Securities LLC

integration into the hospital workflow and academic programs. Given what we

expect to be a slow limited launch, we don’t expect any impact to Intuitive numbers