Microbot Shares Make Mega Leap On Patent News, Study Results

Medtech firm Microbot Medical Inc MBOT's shares were skyrocketing Monday following twin announcements from the company.

What Happened

Microbot said the European Patent Office granted the company a patent that covers its ViRob technology platform, which is an autonomous, crawling microrobot that can crawl within the body and be controlled remotely.

With this, the company has 30 issued/allowed patents.

Separately, Microbot said it has validated the operational effectiveness of its self-cleaning Shunt —  or SCS — in preventing shunt occlusion in an independent in-vitro lab study.

"We believe the highly encouraging results from this latest study, which complements our previous preclinical studies, demonstrates the potential of our SCSTM product to revolutionize how hydrocephalus and normal pressure hydrocephalus can be treated in the future," CEO Harel Gadot said in a statement. 

What's Next

Microbot has an ongoing follow-up study that includes a larger sample size. It expects to conclude the study and announce the data in the second half of 2019. 

Armed with the confidence provided by the SCS study and previous ones, the company said it will explore additional medical applications for the device in conditions where occlusion occurs, such as traumatic brain injuries. 

Microbot shares were ripping 231.67 percent higher at $7.96 at the time of publication Monday. 

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