FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – MAKO Surgical Corp. announced today that its President & CEO
Maurice R. Ferré, M.D., has received the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 award for
emerging companies in Florida.
The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® award is recognized as one of the most prestigious
business awards for entrepreneurs. An independent panel of judges selected Dr. Ferré as the recipient of
the award, which was presented to him at the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year gala event at the
Gaylord Palms Resort in Orlando, Florida. Dr. Ferré is now eligible for the national Entrepreneur Of The
Year awards in Palm Springs, California, November 15 – 18.
As a founder of the medical device company MAKO Surgical Corp., Dr. Ferré has served as its President
& CEO since 2004. During that time, he has overseen the development of advanced solutions for least
invasive orthopedic surgery. MAKO is the developer and manufacturer of the MAKO Haptic Guidance
System™, a surgeon-interactive, robotic navigation system that allows surgeons to perform an innovative
knee resurfacing procedure called MAKOplasty™ on patients with early-stage osteoarthritis of the knee.
The Haptic Guidance System™ utilizes haptic robotic technology and intelligent cutting tools to assist
surgeons during these procedures. The system is FDA-cleared and protected by many of the more than
230 patents and patent applications owned or licensed by the company.
Prior to founding MAKO, Dr. Ferré founded Visualization Technology, Inc., and built it to become the
market leader in ENT image-guided surgery with more than $20 million in revenues and 150 employees.
When VTI was sold to GE Medical in 2002, Dr. Ferré became Vice President of Strategic Development
for GE Medical in Boston, Massachusetts from 2002 until he returned to Florida in 2004 to form MAKO
Surgical Corp.
“This is a tremendous honor – not only for me but also for so many at MAKO Surgical Corp. who have
had a hand in making the company successful,” said Ferré. “We are extremely excited about the
technology we have developed over the past few years and the benefits it will bring to our customers and
patients around the world.”
“MAKO is especially grateful to Ernst & Young for its continuing commitment to recognizing business
excellence in Florida, throughout the country and around the world,” said Dr. Ferré. Ernst & Young has
been MAKO’s outside auditor and accounting firm since 2006.
About MAKO Surgical Corporation
MAKO Surgical Corp. is a privately held, emerging orthopedic medical device company developing
advanced solutions for less invasive knee surgery. Founded in November 2004, the company has
developed and released the MAKO Haptic Guidance System™. This FDA-cleared, physician-interactive
robotics system allows surgeons to provide an innovative therapy called MAKOplasty™ to a large, yet
significantly underserved patient population suffering from early stage degenerative joint disease of the
knee. MAKOplasty™ empowers orthopedic surgeons to improve patient outcomes, shorten recovery
time and enhance post-operative lifestyle. On June 16, 2006, the company performed the first
MAKOplasty™ procedure, a clinical use of the Haptic Guidance System™ in support of a unicondylar
knee arthroplasty executed through a less invasive 2.5 inch incision.
The company has more than 230 patents and patent applications in the areas of robotics, haptics, robotic
surgery, image guided surgery, implants and materials. For more information, please visit
www.makosurgical.com.