INTRODUCTION

This month has seen stimulating growth, increased market shares and opportunity for innovation in the form of key mergers and acquisitions. Below, we’re listing down our top 5 picks for eye catching mergers and acquisitions in the MedTech Industry.

1. Boston Scientific Makes Offer For Majority Stake Of Acotec

Boston Scientific will make a partial offer to acquire a majority stake, up to a maximum of 65%, of shares of Acotec, a Chinese medical technology company that offers solutions designed for a variety of interventional procedures.

Art Butcher, executive vice president and group president, MedSurg and Asia Pacific, Boston Scientific, said: "Acotec is a profitable, fast-growing company with a strong portfolio and innovative pipeline of medical technologies, and we believe this investment will generate growth opportunities for both companies. We expect completion of the partial offer to further strengthen our presence in China and create the potential for commercialization of Acotec products globally, providing an increased number of physicians and patients access to our robust and complementary product portfolios."

2. Cochlear’s $120M Purchase Of Hearing Implant Maker Stirs European Scrutiny

Cochlear’s proposed DKK 850 million ($120 million) takeover of Oticon Medical has sparked concerns by European competition authorities.

Authorities in the European Union and U.K. are reviewing the proposed merger. The U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) found Cochlear would have 90% to 100% share of the bone conduction market after the takeover.

“We’re concerned that this deal could lead to higher costs for the NHS and worse outcomes for patients who rely on life-changing hearing implants. The merger will wipe out one of the main suppliers and leave Cochlear with a near monopoly in the supply of bone conduction implants,” Sorcha O’Carroll, senior director of mergers at the CMA, said in a statement.

The European Commission said the acquisition “threatens to significantly affect competition in the market for cochlear implants and bone conduction solutions” and told Cochlear it can’t close the deal before getting its clearance.

3. Ekso Bionics Buys Indego Lower Limb Exoskeleton Business From Parker Hannifin For $10M

Parker Hannifin sells motion and control technologies that are used by customers in industries including construction, mining, transportation and oil and gas.

Ekso paid $5 million upfront and committed another $5 million spread across quarterly installments to buy the human motion and control unit.

The focus, now, will be on whether Ekso, a much smaller but more specialized business, can drive growth of the device. Ekso’s sales over the first nine months of the year were $9.4 million. At $17.5 million, its market capitalization is a fraction of that of Parker Hannifin.

“This is a great technology with an outstanding team that has built a highly differentiated product offering to help improve gait performance and outcomes for people living with mobility impairments,” Mark Czaja, chief technology and innovation officer at Parker Hannifin said, “The acquisition will allow Ekso to leverage their robust commercial and clinical teams to ultimately enable this important technology to reach more patients in need across the continuum of care.”

4. Integra To Buy Surgical Innovation Associates For $50M In Bid To Lead Growing Breast Reconstruction Niche.

Integra LifeSciences plans to buy Surgical Innovation Associates for $50 million upfront in a bid to build a leading position in the changing breast reconstruction business. 

Over the next few years, Integra expects its SurgiMend PRS and Surgical Innovation’s DuraSorb will become the first two implant-based breast reconstruction (IBBR) surgical matrices to win premarket approval. Surgical Innovation is developing a synthetic matrix, while Integra’s SurgiMend is a xenograft, using bovine tissue.

Currently, human-derived surgical matrices dominate the market, but Interga thinks synthetic and xenograft devices will gain ground, driving it to try to establish leadership positions in the niches.

“The global breast reconstruction market represents an attractive growth opportunity for our surgical reconstruction business. By offering two distinct product solutions, SurgiMend and DuraSorb, to plastic and reconstructive surgeons, we aim to address various clinical, contracting, and economic needs across different sites of care,” Integra’s president of tissue technologies, Robert Davis Jr., said in a statement. 

5. Olympus Agrees To $80M Takeover Of Artificial Intelligence Endoscopy Startup Odin Vision

Olympus has struck a deal to buy artificial intelligence endoscopy startup Odin Vision for up to $80 million in upfront and milestone-based payments.

Odin is a London-based developer of Caddie and Cadu, cloud-based AI systems that are designed to help detect and characterize cancerous and precancerous tissues during colonoscopies and gastroscopies.

The acquisition furthers the strategy that Olympus outlined in 2019, when it set out plans to exit some of its businesses and increase focus on its endoscopic and therapeutic solutions units.

“Incorporating Odin Vision’s leading AI technology portfolio and innovation capabilities into the broader Olympus digital road map will create synergies that enable us to commercialize highly valuable endoscopy-focused software tools. Their product portfolio fits perfectly with our broader efforts to enhance the capabilities we bring in support of clinicians and to help care teams harness decision-driving data,” Nacho Abia, chief operating officer at Olympus, said.