The disruptive medtech M&A of recent years was not matched in the past year for volume, but there were isolated outbreaks of major activity, as shown in our company rankings. 

In Medtech Insight's latest rankings of top 100 revenue-earners in the medical device and diagnostics sector, it was steady as she goes for most of the multinational medtechs, with some major exceptions. But there will be more M&A reflected in next year's ranking based on 2018 revenues. Also, medtech groups leading the global market tightened their grip further in 2017, as providers chose to partner more and more with fewer suppliers who can offer a wider provision of services.

Medtech M&A deal making has resumed the pace of activity seen before the brief surge in the summer. 17 M&A deals were announced and recorded on the Medtech Insight M&A deal tracker, one more than the previous month but included a few billion dollar transactions.

Medtech companies brought in $2.3 billion in financing in Q1 2017, a slight decrease from Q4 2016; device M&A deals totaled $5.8 billion, a sharp decline from the prior quarter, but there were some billion-dollar deals. Q1 diagnostics financings – totaling $1.2 billion (thanks to a $900 million Series B round by cancer diagnostics company Grail) – showed a significant increase over the preceding quarter, as did the Q1 M&As at $700 million versus the previous $87 million.