KARLSTORZendoscopy

In 2019, Karl-Christian Storz took over the management of the operational business and his mother Sybill Storz became head of the supervisory board.

Storzand Bickel

After the death of founder Karl Storz in 1996, his daughter, Sybill Storz, took over the company’s management. At the beginning of 2019, leadership transitioned to her son, Karl-Christian Storz.

Dr KARLSTORZ

KARLSTORZproducts

As the company grew, its first subsidiary, Karl Storz Endoscopy-America, Inc., was established in the United States of America in 1971.[8] The group focused on industrial products like borescopes under the name Karl Storz Industrial Group.[9] A significant milestone came in 1987 with the first laparoscopic removal of a gallbladder, marking the advent of minimally invasive surgery. Karl Storz's instruments played a key role in promoting the surgical technique, contributing to the development of the field and expansion of the company.

KARLSTORZGermany

In January 2024, Karl Storz announced its acquisition of the London-based software manufacturer Innersight Labs Ltd. (ISL).[27][28]

Karl Storz SE & Co. KG, is a privately owned family enterprise specialising in the production and sale of medical instruments such as endoscopes and other surgical instruments. The company was founded in Tuttlingen by Dr. Karl Storz in 1945.[1][2] It is recognised as a global leader in human medical instruments in the field of minimally invasive surgery and rigid endoscopes used for examining body cavities.[3][4] It is also one of the top manufacturers in the industrial endoscopy sector.

STORZMEDICAL

Karl Storz, a surgical mechanic, founded his company in 1945 in Tuttlingen, initially focusing on the production of instruments and lamps for ear, nose, and throat medicine. The company was one of the first to introduce an endoscope that delivered light using fiber optics, in 1963.[5][6]: 382 [7]: 3274–75  It also licensed the patent for the Hopkins relay lens and introduced endoscopes including such lenses in 1965.[2][7]: 3275

In addition to the headquarters in Tuttlingen, the company manufactures in seven other production facilities. More than 8,000 employees in 47 sales and marketing companies are employed worldwide[16] around 3,000 of them at the headquarters in Tuttlingen. Up to 150 apprentices are trained in twelve professions. The company's total turnover in 2018 was over 1.75 billion euros.[17]

In July 2024 the US-based Asensus Surgical, Inc., (NYSE America: ASXC) (also known as Asensus Surgical or Asensus) announced plans to be purchased by Karl Storz Group.[29] The merger was completed in August 2024.[30]

KARLSTORZ

KARL STORZ Endoscopy Canada Ltd. was established in December 1995 to offer Canadian customers even more direct support.[10]

After the death of Karl Storz' in 1996, his daughter, Sybill, assumed leadership of the company.[11] Under her guidance, the company registered over 100 new patents and achieved annual sales growth rates of 15 to 20 percent.[12] In 1998, the OR1 networked operating theatre was introduced, and the following year a logistics and training centre was opened in Tuttlingen. In 2000, the company launched the first mobile documentation system for endoscopic use. In the years after 2000, Sybill Storz received a number of awards for her entrepreneurial achievements and her social commitment.[12][13]

In 2017, it was the subject of several lawsuits concerning deaths following use of morcellators that it sold; in 2014 the FDA had advised that these devices should be withdrawn from the market due to the risk of spreading cancer and while Ethicon, the market leader, had withdrawn their devices, Karl Storz had not.[14] In 2017, it changed its corporate form from GmbH to Societas Europaea.[15]