Johnson & Johnson on Friday announced it would acquire heart device firm Shockwave Medical for $13.1 billion. It’s J&J’s second billion-dollar deal in the cardiovascular space in two years, following its 2022 purchase of Abiomed for $16.6 billion.
The company also said in November that it would buy private heart device company Laminar for $400 million.
Shockwave Medical’s device works to break down calcified plaque in the coronary and peripheral arteries using sonic pressure waves — a treatment called intravascular lithotripsy. The founders based the technology on lithotripsy to remove kidney stones, a therapy that has been in use since the 1980s. According to a press statement, Shockwave has treated 400,000 patients with this method globally. The company earned its first clearance from the Food and Drug Administration in 2016, and went public in 2019 at a share price of $17.
