Dive Brief:
- Vicarious Surgical said Monday it has submitted an application to list its Class A common stock on the Nasdaq market. The surgical robot developer earlier this month moved its shares to the over-the-counter market after receiving a delisting notice from the New York Stock Exchange.
- Under new CEO Stephen From, Vicarious has made operational changes and cut costs as it pushes to reach technology milestones for its surgical robot, a single-port system for abdominal procedures. The company said it remains on track to achieve a system design freeze by the end of 2026, a key milestone.
- The company’s efforts come as competition intensifies in the U.S. market for soft tissue surgical robots, with companies such as Medtronic and CMR Surgical introducing systems that offer hospitals new alternatives to leader Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci platform.
Dive Insight:
With a roster of prominent backers that included Bill Gates, Vicarious emerged as an early challenger to Intuitive in 2019 when it gained a breakthrough device designation from the Food and Drug Administration to help speed development of its robot.
However, other companies have since pulled ahead in the race to market as Vicarious encountered setbacks in developing its system and extended the timeline for a regulatory submission. The company has taken steps over the past several years to reduce expenses, including cutting staff.
Shortly after being named CEO in 2025, From said Vicarious would scrap plans to begin a clinical trial by the end of the year to focus instead on completing the design for the commercial version of its robot. Vicarious decided to outsource part of the robot’s design to save money and has partnered with an engineering and software development firm. Work on key aspects of the system, including the miniaturized robotic arms and immersive visualization technology, remains in-house.
Vicarious said the latest cost-cutting moves have allowed it to lower its full-year 2026 cash burn forecast to about $19 million from the approximately $35 million it previously predicted, adding that the efforts have not slowed momentum on the robot’s development.
The company filed a preliminary proxy statement with regulators seeking shareholder approval to authorize a reverse stock split to enable the shares to meet Nasdaq’s minimum bid price requirement for listing. The company’s board will determine the ratio of the reverse stock split. Vicarious said it is exploring more capital raising strategies and has applied to upgrade its quotation to the OTCQB Venture Market from the OTCID market while it pursues the Nasdaq listing.
