Titan Medical Licenses Most IP to Intuitive; CEO Steps Down

Titan Medical entered a license agreement with Intuitive Surgical for an upfront payment of $7.5 million in respect of certain Titan intellectual property (IP).
 
Under the agreement, Titan granted Intuitive a non-exclusive license to all of its IP, with the exception of IP that’s already exclusively licensed to another party under a June 2020 license agreement, according to Titan. Titan will retain ownership of the IP, along with associated rights including the right to continue to develop and commercialize tech covered by the licensed IP and the right to license the IP to third parties.
 
In a corporate update, Titan announced that effective June 1, Cary Vance will step down as the company’s president and CEO. Paul Cataford will be appointed interim president and CEO as the company proceeds with its strategic transition. Vance will remain on the board, replacing Cataford on his board committee assignments. Cataford will continue as board chair.
 
Titan VP of finance Chien Huang will be appointed chief financial officer (CFO) and current CFO Stephen Lemieux will transition to a consulting role to ensure an orderly transition. Titan VP of legal and IP, general counsel, and corporate secretary Jasminder Bar will also transition to a consulting role, as will VP of operations and manufacturing Bill Fahey and director of human resources Nate Jones.
 
“I would like to congratulate Chien on his appointment to CFO. Chien is a seasoned financial professional with experience in an IP licensing business,” Cataford told the press. “We would like to thank Stephen, Jasminder, Bill and Nate for their effective leadership through the Strategic Review process and for their willingness to remain engaged and available in a consulting capacity to support the Company through the Strategic Transition. The announcement made last week is demonstrative of the Company’s foundational intellectual property and its important role in the field of robotic assisted surgery. Finally, we would also like to thank Cary for his time as president and CEO and look forward to continuing to work with him on the Board.”
 
This all follows Titan’s November 2022 announcement of a strategic review process that is considering a full range of strategic alternatives including corporate sale, merger, or other business combination, all of all or part of the company’s assets, strategic investment, or other significant transaction.
 
Earlier this year, several other members of Titan senior leadership were laid off and the company lost its Nasdaq compliance.