Mako Surgical Appoints Sales VP

Mako Surgical Corporation, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based medical robotics company, has promoted Christopher R. Marrus to senior vice president of sales. The company makes the Rio robotic arm interactive orthopedic surgical platform and Restoris implants, both of which indicated for specific types of osteoarthritic disease.

“Chris has made valuable contributions as a sales leader since joining Mako over a year ago,” said Maurice R. Ferré, M.D., president and CEO of Mako. “Chris has significant experience with both capital and procedural sales, which we believe will greatly assist Mako as we continue to sell additional Rio systems while improving utilization across our installation base.”

Marrus has been with Mako since February 2012, most recently as Mako’s senior director of sales, east. Previously he served as Mako’s regional sales manager for Rio sales, east, from February 2012 to January 2013. Marrus has worked in medical device sales for more than 15 years while managing both capital and procedural sales, national accounts and clinical training. From July 2010 to December 2011, he served as the vice president of U.S. sales for Endogastric Solutions Inc., a medical device company that develops surgical devices for reconstructive gastrointestinal procedures via a transoral approach, where he was responsible for domestic sales and clinical training. Transoral surgery relies on robotics to enter the mouth or throat from within the mouth cavity, rather than via an incision on the throat or neck. From 2004 to 2010, Marrus held various positions with Intuitive Surgical Inc., a surgical robotic company, including area vice president, where he managed a large portion of the company’s national sales team and his responsibilities included both capital and procedural sales. He holds a B.A. in history from Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, and a J.D. from Tulane University in New Orleans, La.

Mako’s fourth quarter operating report released in January stated that 2,904 “Makoplasty” procedures (arthoplasty procedures that use the Rio robotic arm in surgery) were performed, of which 2,756 were performed at domestic sites and 395 were total hip arthroplasty (THA) procedures. The 2,904 Makoplasty procedures performed represent a 20 percent increase over the procedures performed in the third quarter of 2012 and a 29 percent increase over the procedures performed in the fourth quarter of 2011. The 395 THA procedures performed represent a 31 percent increase over the THA procedures performed in the third quarter of 2012. In the fourth quarter, eleven Makoplasty THA applications were sold, eight of which were sold with the Rio systems sales during the quarter and three of which were sold as upgrades to existing customers with knee-only commercial systems. According to the company, as of the end of last year, 96 Rio systems, or 62 percent of the worldwide commercial installed base, are Makoplasty THA enabled.

“We continued to make progress in the fourth quarter towards reestablishing our growth trajectory in Rio system placements and putting the building blocks in place to drive Makoplasty procedure volume and utilization,” said Ferré. “While 2012 was a challenging year for Mako, we believe that the changes we initiated in the second half of the year will position Mako well for improved performance in 2013 and ultimately provide for our long term success.”