Microbot Medical Inc (NASDAQ:MBOT): A Fully Funded Medical Device Punt

Microbot Medical Inc (NASDAQ:MBOT) has had a great week. The company currently trades for a little over $5.18 (having dipped premarket by around 4%), representing a 76% premium to its start of the week pricing. We've not seen these levels since the end of March and the run is a much-needed reprieve from what has been eight weeks of steady decline.The latest run appears to be rooted in the issuance of a Canadian patent covering the company's so-called Self Cleaning Shunt (SCS). This builds on what is already a pretty expansive coverage for the product (a US patent qualified for allowance back in February) and the technology that underpins it.So what's next?While the importance of getting this technology covered from an intellectual property perspective can't be overlooked, patents aren’t going to drive long-term value. What is, and specifically as far as Microbot is concerned, is getting its product through trials and into the hands of surgeons. To this aim, the company is some way off. This doesn’t mean there's not any room for growth, but it makes any position in the company a bit of a speculative one.For those new to Microbot, the company is developing a suite of robot type devices that are tiny; designed to perform certain functions within the mechanics of the human body – things like blood vessels, the digestive tract, any tubular lumen, all that sort of thing.For readers who've seen it, think Inner Space, without Dennis Quaid.There are two platforms, one called ViRob and TipCAT, both of which come together to form the lead development product, the above-mentioned SCS that just picked up patent coverage in Canada. It's under investigation for the treatment of hydrocephalus and what's called Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus, or NPH; and a self-propelling, semi-disposable endoscope that is being developed initially for use in colonoscopy procedures.It basically travels through lumen clearing out unwanted junk and cleaning up after itself as it goes.So how close is the product to market?Well, the development process for this sort of thing isn’t as lengthy as it might be for a drug product, so this serves to limit cost and time somewhat. During the first quarter of this year, the company kicked off some preclinical efficacy studies for the device and there's an ongoing study being conducted at Wayne State University, with the primary objective of the latter to test and finalize the design of the product. Data from this study should it during the third quarter, so we're probably looking at end of year before the device actually gets into the clinic as part of a trial that could underpin a regulatory green light in the US. Once in the clinic, we're looking at six to twelve months' testing before an application hits the desk of the authorities.So it's something of a slow burner, and to boot, there aren’t a great deal of potential catalysts available to traders between now and any potential approval; or at least between now and the clinical investigation kicks off.With that said, we don't see this as prohibitive to a speculative exposure. The technology is neat and it's the kind of thing that's going to start drawing the attention of mainstream news media as it progresses towards commercialization. With this attention will almost certainly come speculative loading and – by proxy – appreciation in market capitalization.Another plus point is that cash on hand (which came in at $5 million at last count, March 31) is enough to carry the product through to FDA submission. This means that, by the time the company needs to raise again, we should have a solid idea of whether the product is going to pick up a regulatory nod.Bottom line is it's not too often we see a medical device company with something this marketable (from an investor relations perspective) that's funded through to regulatory submission. Based on this alone, it's well worth a shot.We will be updating our subscribers as soon as we know more. For the latest updates on MBOT, sign up below!Disclosure: We have no position in MBOT and have not been compensated for this article.