Medtech dealmaking picked up in 2024 after a post-pandemic slump, with deals ranging from multibillion-dollar takeovers to smaller tuck-in acquisitions and the shedding of business groups.
In a recent investor note, BTIG analysts wrote that 38 acquisitions had closed by Dec. 12, compared to 22 across all of 2023. The number of takeovers was still below the 48 completed in 2021, but 2024 was the second busiest year for deals since 2011, according to the analysts.
Multibillion-dollar buyouts returned last year, led by Johnson & Johnson’s $13.1 billion acquisition of Shockwave Medical, and companies continued to expand their portfolios. Artificial intelligence was a focus of some smaller deals, such as Stryker’s takeover of Care.ai and GE Healthcare’s acquisition of Intelligent Ultrasound Group’s clinical AI software business.
Here, MedTech Dive looks at the top 10 medical technology acquisitions of 2024:
1. Johnson & Johnson buys Shockwave Medical
Amount: $13.1 billion
Date closed: May 31
Buying Shockwave gave J&J devices for treating coronary and peripheral artery disease. The deal made J&J a leader in another segment of the cardiovascular market, adding growth drivers to a business that the company previously bolstered by buying Abiomed for $16.6 billion in 2022.
J&J reported $229 million in revenue associated with the acquisition of Shockwave in the third quarter, moving the total generated by the acquired assets above $300 million. Tim Schmid, J&J’s worldwide chairman of medtech, said on the company’s earnings call in October that Shockwave “continues to perform to expectations.”
2. BD buys Edwards’ critical care group
Amount: $4.2 billion
Date closed: Sept. 3
Edwards Lifesciences’ decision to offload its critical care group enabled BD to buy the business for $4.2 billion. BD has predicted the acquired assets, which form its new advanced patient monitoring (APM) business, can grow 6% to 7% a year.
The APM business added $74 million to BD’s medical revenue in the fourth quarter of the company’s 2024 financial year, which ended in September. CEO Tom Polen said on an earnings call in November that “integration is going as expected, and the commercial teams are fully engaged in maximizing the benefits of APM for our customers.”
3. Patient Square Capital to buy Patterson Companies
Amount: $4.1 billion
Date announced: Dec. 11
Patterson Companies, a distributor of dental and animal health products, accepted an offer from the health investment firm Patient Square Capital after facing challenges in the first half of its 2025 financial year. Sales fell short of Patterson’s expectations in the first quarter, mainly because of the Change Healthcare cybersecurity attack, and the company cut its guidance in the second quarter.
4. Boston Scientific buys Axonics
Amount: $3.7 billion
Date closed: Nov. 15
Boston Scientific closed its protracted takeover of Axonics in November. The companies agreed to the deal in January, but scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission delayed completion.
Buying Axonics adds devices to treat urinary and bowel dysfunction to Boston Scientific’s urology business. Boston Scientific grew urology sales by more than 10% in the third quarter and said Axonics can add to the company’s long-term growth.
5. Thomas H. Lee Partners buys Agiliti
Amount: $2.5 billion
Date closed: May 7
Private equity firm Thomas H. Lee Partners took medical technology services provider Agiliti private in a deal proposed in February worth approximately $2.5 billion. Agiliti went public in 2021, selling shares for $14, but saw its value fall over its time on the New York Stock Exchange. The company accepted a buyout bid of $10 a share, a 39% premium over the stock’s last closing price before news of the deal broke.
6. Johnson & Johnson buys V-Wave
Amount: $600 million upfront, plus up to $1.1 billion in milestones
Date closed: Oct. 9
J&J agreed to pay $600 million upfront for V-Wave despite the heart implant company’s pivotal trial missing its primary endpoint. The decision was built on evidence that V-Wave’s interatrial shunt device, implanted through a catheter, improves outcomes in people with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). Michael Bodner, J&J’s global head of heart recovery, discussed the patient population at a Stifel event in November.
“These patients are short of breath, and they’re constantly going to the hospital, being put on systemic diuretics and trying to be optimized,” Bodner said. “It’s 800,000 patients just in the United States that have HFrEF, are not responding to medication and could benefit from a shunt procedure. That’s about the same size as the U.S. [transcatheter aortic valve replacement] market.”
7. Owens & Minor to buy Rotech Healthcare Holdings
Amount: $1.36 billion
Date announced: July 23
Owens & Minor agreed to buy home medical equipment company Rotech Healthcare Holdings to further its efforts to generate $5 billion in patient direct sales by 2028. Rotech made $750 million in net revenue in 2023 through sales of products for respiratory diseases, sleep apnea and other conditions.
A request from the FTC delayed the anticipated closing date from the second half of 2024 to the first half of 2025. Owens & Minor CEO Edward Pesicka said on an earnings call in November that “it is common for the [FTC] to request additional information and documentary materials for their review process” and voiced confidence that the deal will close in the months ahead.
8. Boston Scientific buys Silk Road Medical
Amount: $1.26 billion
Date closed: Sept. 17
Boston Scientific added devices to treat carotid artery disease to its vascular product portfolio by acquiring Silk Road Medical. Upon announcing the deal in June, Boston Scientific predicted Silk Road Medical would grow net revenue year over year by a range of from 10% to 12% in 2024, for up to $198 million. J.P. Morgan analysts said in a note to clients that the deal could “move the needle on growth in the peripheral interventions business.”
9. Edwards Lifesciences to buy Jenavalve Technology and Endotronix
Amount: $1.2 billion
Date announced: July 24
Edwards Lifesciences simultaneously disclosed deals to buy JenaValve Technology and Endotronix for an aggregate upfront purchase price of $1.2 billion.
Endotronix, the developer of an implantable sensor for the management of heart failure patients, commanded a slightly higher upfront fee: $600 million versus $500 million for JenaValve. However, the JenaValve agreement features up to $445 million in milestone payments, compared with $75 million outlined in the Endotronix deal. JenaValve developed a catheter-based treatment for aortic regurgitation.
10. Quest Diagnostics buys Lifelabs
Amount: 1.35 billion Canadian dollars (about $985 million)
Date closed: Aug. 26
Quest Diagnostics bought the laboratory testing business Lifelabs to expand in Canada. Lifelabs is the main rival to the Labcorp-owned Dynacare in Canada. Quest CEO James Davis said on an earnings call in October that population growth and age demographics make Canada “a great place to operate.”