The robotics market penetration in the U.S. is 5-10 percent at the most. The less said about the global market penetration the better.

But the biggest name in the business is making an effort to change all that.

Intuitive Surgical announced this week that it is forming a $100 million joint venture in China to tackle lung cancer using robot-assisted devices. The partner is Fosun Pharma and the goal is to make products targeting early diagnosis and cost-effective treatment of lung cancer. “Globally lung cancer biopsies are a trade-off between serious complications or the risk of reduced probability of a diagnosis,” said Paige Bischoff, vice president of Global Public Affairs, Intuitive Surgical, in an email forwarded by a company representative.  “A major focus of this venture is to offer physicians and patients an option which combines improved safety with a higher assurance of diagnosis.”

Specifically, the joint venture will focus on robot-assisted catheter-based medical devices. Intuitive, based in Sunnyvale, California, is no stranger to Fosun Pharma given that since 2011, Chindex Medical Ltd., a subsidiary of Fosun Pharma, has been a distribution partner for Intuitive Surgical’s da Vinci Surgical Systems in China.

The joint venture will be based in Shanghai, where R&D activity and manufacturing will occur. Intuitive Surgical will take on distributing the products coming out of the JV outside China while the domestic market distribution will be managed by the Shanghai entity.

“The cooperation will boost the development of Fosun Pharma’s medical device sector by integrating branding concept, matching resources and leveraging complementary advantages with Intuitive Surgical, so as to bring better medical tools for doctors,” said Chen Qiyu, chairman of Fosun Pharma, in a news release.

The focus on lung cancer comes not a moment too soon — state media forecasts that by 2020, by China will have 800,000 lung cancer patients a year, a sad commentary on the effect of air pollution in the country.

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