The $1.99 billion Cordis acquisition is a major step in Cardinal's strategy to build its offerings of devices with a high physician preference but for which there is limited clinical differentiation and inefficient supply chains.

U.S. distributor Cardinal Health is doubling down in China and expanding its current network to become a national player.

Device companies kicked off 2013 by raising $1.1 billion via 45 transactions; the only device M&A transaction in Q1 to exceed the billion-dollar mark was Cardinal Health Inc.’s $2.07 billion acquisition of AssuraMed. Diagnostics firms began 2013 by raising a total of $286 million in the opening quarter, a 46% improvement over Q4 2012’s tally.

Biogen paid over $3 billion to buy out Elan’s share of Tysabri. Mylan and Cardinal Health made two billion-dollar-plus acquisitions. FOPOs represented over 50% of the $827 million in biopharma financing. The $322 million in device fundraising was dominated by late-stage venture rounds.