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Odd that no mention of the ALF-X acquisition was made. Anyway, looks like TRXC shouldn't be concerning Titan too much.
Well BIG, you do have to admit, unbelievably, that any insider buzz created by Titan even SHOWING UP at the BTIG conference didn't raise awareness of this company and its imminent potential. And over surgibotnot and ALFarino and as yet non-existent google/ethicon platforms, rumor, and heresay.
I hope SAGES is a different story (It has too be or we are in bizarro world). If hundreds, if not thousands of doctors and medical business personnel will walk by the Titan booth without thinking maybe I should buy some shares in that company, then I won't the meaning of reality anymore.
I understand the motivations of the source-sites publishing those articles. But they were more than three sentence hints of rumors. They appeared fairly in-depth. If half of what they say is accurate it still paints a very poor picture for TRXC.
Have to agree. Those articles are blistering, all but calling outright fraud on TRXC. Jeezus! Are they typical of press in American medical device development. If I ever read something like that about Titan, I'd hope I was wearing Depends.
Seeking Alpha article about TRXC:
TransEnterix - Watch For A 60% Decline After Stock Promotion And Disappointing Sales $TRXC http://www.seekingalpha.com/article/3911296
Just in case you missed the previous post. Please read, come to your own conclusions, and I wish you success making sound decisions with your hard-earned money.
Wow. What a BUST on TRXC.
I wrote my previous post before I read this. Makes me feel pretty smart.
Who the heck would dare buy TRXC after reading this?
My take on Alf has been that it was developed academically, by consortium, and also EU money. Marketing may not really have been ever addressed seriously. Probably too many opinions about whether the project was ready to fly and compete with daVinci. Strategically TRXC may have been very smart to present themselves a North American based "robotics upstart" who could handle that. Hence the low price paid by TRXC. I am sure hands from Sofar and other entities are still going to get kickback from any sales. I understand the entire Italian development team came along in the sale.
So, if Alf is any good and can be updated or modified to compete with ISRG, TRXC may have something to work with. However, my experience with niche, highly-specialized medical products from Europe is that the acceptance in the US is low. Of course I'm not speaking about Siemens, Phillips, Draeger, etc.. But I really wonder if TRXC has the experience and know-how to bring Alf into the US. It would be interesting if they could get things moving in Europe first. But that brings up a question: Why wouldn't a Phillips, or a Siemens have bought Alf?
That's why I think TRXC is probably all about hype, not substance.
Surgibot is already going to be a bust for them, Alf is a last-ditch get rich play.
I'm not the only one thinking this, but I believe TRXC bought ALF-X only with the intent to sell it off. And, the original owners of ALF-X will get some of those profits. In other words, the folks at TRXC know firsthand that the big boys are shopping, and they wanted to have something in the store. Also, they get to rebrand ALF-X as an "American" product. Don't underestimate ALF-X. A lot of thought and design went into it. It merely needs to be repackaged to enter the competition with ISRG. My guess is that Surgibot is an afterthought now for TRXC; they want to sell ALF-X off.
The other company just used was in the same building as Titan right?, and almost out of business?
JH must be getting pretty bold to go those two miles.
SurgRob is a great place to get some press. The site is run by a Hungarian robotics engineer and appeals to a lot of tech types. Maybe it will raise some international eyebrows about what is current with Titan and SPORT.
He usually only posts pretty interesting and up-to-date information about the surgical robotics sector.
Lead entry today is about the rebranded Transenterix ALF-X.
Yes, and notice they refer to it as "tactile" feedback which is smart because it certainly isn't haptic, which is a term misused used by some pro-Surgibot people.
dndodd, I also believe in the product and am holding long. I was merely stating the obvious; mgt could care less about shareholder value at this point, and never has in the past. I don't think they will in the future either. They are focused on product, but failing to generate perceived value through a rational pps and general PR creates problems, like raising money when needed. Also, attracting investors, talent, etc.. The only impression one could have right now is that mgt is not a team, at all. Just three individuals that have been thrown in the pot together. They are where they are at ONLY because of Ximedica, and probably Fowler. IMO.
JH is in this for legacy and furnishing jobs to his kids, grandkids, and relatives. He doesn't care about stockholder value.
Fowler is in this for altruistic reasons of advancing medicine and healthcare. He doesn't care about stockholder value.
Reiza, maybe his passion is stamp collecting or something; is he still alive? He doesn't care about stockholder value.
That's the reason pps is where it is.
And too bad that Surgibot is not a robot.
Agree with you and have felt this way a LONG time.
Mgt has blown all reasonable chances given to add energy to SPORT and their own financials. This could be a $15 stock right now. Look at Ximedica; they have better press about the project than Titan does. They show some energy.
I'd settle for 4-5 dollars and a chance to sell and forget the hassle of following them every day. Sick of the silent, bumbling treatment they have shown investors. By the way, where are Hargrove and Reiza? Are they alive? Where's Bertner? Don't we deserve to know she's doing something?
Well maybe the SEC will task them to explain a 30% fall, Ha!
"No material reason"
How the hell can a company with this potential in the near future be at 70 cents with increasing visibility?
There is a lot of BS going on.
Exactly. JH should be telling them, "People are interested in our company and the pps goes up, F*** OFF"!
There is something F***ed up about the way this company operates or gets advised. I swear there is. Something is truly strange about this operation. Not saying they won't succeed in the end, or that I'm not excited about their prospects, but they are one strange bunch.
You know, YOU HAVE A MAJOR POINT! Let's image the upcoming presence at Sages and recent mentions of Titan is the reason for the runup (only hypothetically, I don't think that's it). SO, by MGT announcing they don't know the reason for the runup they might actually be lying - if they think that might be the reason.
Are you telling me that if an unplanned, independent good report comes out about any given company and its stock goes up that company HAS TO say that there is no known reason.
That's Bullshit. That never happens. I AM SURE that Titan did not need to make that statement. They could have said we think that Titan has been mentioned in the press. BUT, they did not even need to say that.
THEY WANTED TO MAKE THIS STATEMENT. THEY "SELF-REPORTED". F*** KNOWS WHY?
You are LTG, right?
I think you are right; witness TRXC falling quite a bit right now.
Long and excited for Titan, of course, but I think this is just going to be a short term runup and fall, without any real news.
Hope I'm wrong.
Link to TRXC presentation to JP Morgan.
https://www.medtechy.com/boards/companies/transenterix/3889
They are looking pretty slick touting the ALF-X. Surgibot appears like a clunker, but they are suggesting they offer a cheapo model and a Cadillac.
I still think the ALF-X will be a formidable robot if it can be marketed effectively. Question has been why that didn't happen in Europe by now.
At 58 seconds, I though I saw a janitor in one of the Ximedica hallways using a Surgibot to clean under the sinks!
The majority of investors (unlike those that contribute to this board) that are involved with this sector wouldn't know a suture from a scalpel or a surgical robot from an anesthesia machine. They will invest on whatever hype get puts out there. Surgibot is not a robot; Alf-x will need a major overhaul to compete with daVinci, or morph into a SPORT-scale platform. TRXC is just the better known name of upstarts to ISRG.
Titan is FINALLY starting to have its name mentioned.Based on where they are positioned now, Titan should be a $10 stock on potential alone.
I know one thing, TRXC would not get bought out for Surgibot. It is not even a surgical robot by any modern definition.
That can only mean someone wants the Alf-x platform, if it does pan out that TRXC is being acquired.
My personal impression is that the Alf-x is as sophisticated as daVinci, it simply has not been marketed and probably is already in need of a major downsizing and facelift. A big acquirer could do that. How good are the haptics and their haptic technology and their haptic IP? I think Alf-x also claims eye-tracking. Those could be what someone wants to capitalize on.
Agree that it selling off to TRXC for a "lowball" figure seems odd. Maybe that was all planned by AL-x and TRXC to get the platform moving. I understand that the Alf-x developers were part of the package.
I believe the TRXC purchase of ALF-X included the entire development team of ALF.
Agree with you. My main point though is that ALF-X is a sophisticated platform, and one to build off of quickly.
They could want the ALF-X platform, now owned by TRXC. ALF-X is an advanced robotic platform certainly similar to daVinci. For whatever reason, probably that it was a joint European/academic venture, it hasn't REALLY been marketed yet.
I can see J&J/Verb wanting to adopt the ALF-X platform as a jumpstart. Maybe TRXC buying it, as it languished, was a really good move.
Could this be the article that just caused TRXC to jump? That is what is being bandies about by a few of the handful of posts on the ever-quiet TRXC iHub site.
http://www.stockgumshoe.com/reviews/bioscience-millionaire/whats-the-bionic-surgeon-looking-for-imminent-fda-approval/
This is the article's description of Surgibot!!!!
“Their new technology isn’t just a tool used by a surgeon…
“It merges with the surgeon…
“Creating a whole new reality. Part man. Part machine.
“In short, a ‘bionic surgeon.'”
Cue the obligatory references to the Six Million Dollar Man (or, inflation adjusted, the $22 Million Man), but what Tremblay is touting here is a company with some sort of next-level surgical robot system, an improvement over Intuitive Surgica’s da Vinci.
More clues:
“… it’s moved through the FDA approval process while attracting some of the savviest technology investors on the planet, including a billionaire often referred to as the ‘Warren Buffet of biotech….’
“… you need to understand that in the coming weeks, this breakthrough bionic surgeon could hit every hospital and surgical center on the planet.”
“In the coming weeks?” Be serious. Even if this weren’t a half-million-dollar machine it would take time to roll out and build to critical scale.
Some of the biotech-savvy among you have already guessed what stock this is, I imagine, but don’t ruin the surprise for everyone else…
let’s check out some more clues:
“Surgeons ‘wear’ the technology and are always in the same room conducting the surgery themselves.
“If there’s a problem, the surgeon is right there next to the patient – inside the sterile field – able to respond immediately.
“This is crucial. One surgeon puts it this way:
‘If you’re sitting on a console 10 feet away, you’re not scrubbed in. If there’s catastrophe on the field the first thing you have to do is: somebody has to undock the unit… Then you have to move the entire apparatus off the field while you run outside and scrub. If you think about the amount of time it takes to do that, it might be a few minutes, but it’s a lifetime literally to that patient.’
“Problems like these won’t happen with this new technology.”
CRIPES!; you would think Surgibot is coming here from the future.
JH probably isn't out of bed before noon. Bertner's just making coffee for him then.
As someone has pointed out, FINALLY Titan's name is being mentioned along with TRXC as upcoming competition to ISRG and the robotic surgical market. But, I hope the explanation is better than that too.
Valvo might be involved with both companies but SPORT and daVinci are two completely different technologies. I don't see ISRG developing and supporting and selling two different platforms. If Titan could hypothetically buy ISRG, they wouldn't, except to make them disappear.
I believe that when she signed on for Titan that was listed as a press release item, and remained there. I don't recall mention of Bertner in any other place, but I may be wrong.
Ultimately, a good idea to allow the robot to follow the repositioning of the patient.
Practically speaking, there are A LOT of things connected to the patient that still need to be monitored/supported/repositioned any time the movement is more than tiny. Drapes, supports, electro leads, catheters, IVs, anesthesia masks, etTube, grounding pads, etc..
I'm wondering if a lot of surgical personnel (docs and everyone else) wouldn't think it was worth the trouble and expense.
I agree; it seemed like a premature emphasis on an issue that usually pops up later in the information game. I suspect the writer has some inside info about it. Otherwise, would have not mentioned potential IP conflicts.
IMHO
Low level hires means low salaries.
But not a recipe for success.
You have got to be top-notch in the OR environment to sell in my hospital. Reps for surgical ortho products scrub-in. Most have strong science/engineering background, and even if they come from business backgrounds, all are sharp.
Surgeons (and surgical nurses) won't tolerate hacks. Sorry to say it, but true.
If you are reading this Hargrove, spend some time in the OR and think about what SPORT needs as its representatives.
Or New Yawkers with nice boots and big jazoobies.
Yes, the pps so stable, and so low, in the face of this product's "news releases" and potential is nothing short of bizarre. Can being on this Canadian exchange and having such an artificially low price due to management's (and Bertner's) philosophy of silence really explain it? It is unheralded, I think, in a sector like medical robotics. I could understand if Titan was developing some exotic waste-processing technology, or new internal combustion engine, but medical surgical robotics is an in-your-face topic; witness the press on the Google/JnJ news for example.
It is really unbelievable that Titan can sit here this long. The only thing that makes me think I'm not delusional is that TRXC got no bump, zero! nada! zilch!, out of an announcement of the purchase of Alf-X, a finished platform. Now some of us might think that Alf-X is a dead duck anyway, but no positive market reaction, really?!?
I would argue that the only take-away is that EXCEPT for the one time rags-to-riches story of ISRG, this sector is actually an investment backwater, a dud, and will continue to be. Might as well look for the new Candy Crush, for godsakes! What's the world coming to? To me it means only the most modest pps increases can be expected for Titan, no matter what the good news the future holds. Expect hopefully to triple your money in the next five years, that's all folks. This sector is not the ticket to riches, only good returns.
I don't understand the "with a contact lens" part.
She worked for a company that worked for Titan way back when Titan started. She left to form her own firm and sooner or later someone at Titan who liked her put her on contract.
Titan has always kept it close to the vest.
And the answer is no to whoever asked whether or not they have professional IR or PR personnel. Are you kidding? There is no IR or PR from Titan. They don't believe in it, apparently.
They are one strange bunch, that's all I can say. And Bertner could be providing favors of one sort or another. It's our money Titan is spending, not theirs.