Stryker is furthering its presence in the surgical robotics market via a strategic pair-up with CMR Surgical that will see the orthopaedics giant inject $400m to support US commercialisation efforts for the company’s Versius robotic surgery platform, with the alliance also teeing up the potential for Stryker to acquire CMR in the future.
Under the equity investment agreement’s terms, Stryker will serve as the exclusive US sales agent for CMR’s Versius portfolio, while the British company will continue to lead portfolio development and commercialisation in markets outside the US. Versius first won approval in Europe in 2019 and has subsequently been authorised in multiple territories within Asia-Pacific (APAC) and the Americas.
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Meanwhile, the agreement grants Stryker an exclusive option to acquire the remaining equity in the Cambridge, UK-headquartered company in the future. Terms regarding what percentage of equity the Michigan-based company’s investment gives it, however, were not immediately clear. Medical Device Network has reached out to Stryker for confirmation.
CMR’s Versius platform features a modular design intended to support flexibility across procedures, and sites of care, factors Stryker asserts can help healthcare providers grow robotic adoption within existing operating room (OR) workflows.
Andy Pierce, group president, medsurg and neurotechnology at Stryker, commented: “Soft-tissue robotics is a high-growth adjacency and a natural extension of Stryker’s strengths in endoscopy, visualisation and enabling technologies. We have evaluated the segment carefully for years, and this alliance represents a thoughtful and disciplined entry that combines the complementary strengths of both companies.
“We selected CMR Surgical and the Versius portfolio because of the opportunity to help healthcare providers grow robotic-assisted surgery adoption across a broad range of procedures in hospitals and ambulatory surgery centres (ASCs).”
Stryker announced its alliance with the privately held company at market open on 12 October, leading its stock, listed on the Nasdaq exchange, to rise by around 1% in morning trading to $280.10 [correct as at 11:30am ET], up from $277.33 previously. Stryker has a market cap of $107.48bn.
CMR’s second-generation robot, Versius Plus, secured US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance in December 2025 with an indication for gallbladder removal. Meanwhile, the platform is cleared in other territories, including Europe, for additional soft tissue procedures such as colorectal and urologic surgery.
CMR is a relatively new entrant into the US surgical robotics market, with several of the market’s key segments dominated by Intuitive.
According to a GlobalData market model, the developer of the da Vinci robot held a 48.8% share of the robotic surgical systems market in the US in 2025, with Stryker in second place with a distant 19.5% share, and an 80.6% share of the general surgery robotic surgical systems market. Meanwhile, Stryker led the orthopaedic robotic surgical systems market in 2025 with a 75.5% share ahead of its nearest rival, Zimmer Biomet, in second place with a 10.4% share.
Reflecting on the alliance, Andrew Williamson, managing partner at Cambridge Innovation Capital, CMR’s largest UK investor, said: “Stryker’s decision to invest $400m into CMR Surgical represents a UK manufacturing and technology success story. It will allow one of Britain’s breakout medical technology businesses to expand at scale and pace in America, by far the world’s biggest healthcare market, as well as increase its global sales in Asia and Europe.”
