But Novo’s blockbuster lags established drugs in diabetic kidney disease patients, and will probably be regarded as an adjunct.

With many medtechs restructuring for core growth in the post-pandemic era, Abbott relied on organic growth in 2022 to move to the top of the global medtech ranking. The strength of the US dollar was not kind to companies reporting in local currencies on converting revenues to dollars.

The Danish giant’s GLP-1 agonist blockbuster is effective against diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular disease. Now kidney disease can be added to the list after a Phase III trial was halted for efficacy.

This week, Abbott announced a class I recall of several glucose management systems. Additionally, Medtronic announced partnerships with DaVita and Qure.Ai; Heartflow closed a funding round; and BiVacor readies for artificial heart trials.