Stryker Corp. plans to shut part of its endoscopy business, an Israeli company it purchased for $50 million in 2006, and lay off 71 employees, according to the Web site of an Israeli business-news organization.
Kalamazoo, MI-based Stryker is closing SightLine Technologies and firing 71 employees in Israel who were creating flexible scopes used for colonoscopies and other procedures, according to the report by Globes.
J. Patrick Anderson, vice president of corporate affairs for Stryker, would neither confirm nor deny that Stryker is closing the business and laying off workers.
Most of Stryker's endoscopy business is in rigid scopes, which are primarily used in orthopedic procedures. It has been a growing component of the company's business, according to Stryker officials.In the third quarter, Stryker reported that endoscopy sales had grown by 11% over the previous year.
Stryker purchased SightLine in 2006 to enter the market for flexible surgical scopes, which are used in gastrointestinal procedures such as colonoscopies