The medical device industry has pulled in over $3B in private funding every year since 2012. However, in light of Theranos’ ongoing legal battles and and issues surrounding the data vulnerability of St. Jude Medical’s implantable cardiac monitor, cybersecurity and product efficacy were top of mind this past year. Despite the challenges, however, medical device companies raised nearly $4B in 2016.
However, medical device exits, which had been growing every year since 2012, contracted suddenly in 2016, falling to pre-2015 levels. In this report we used CB Insights data to analyze exit trends in the medical device industry.
Exit activity
In 2016, first exits of medical device companies saw a nearly 20% decline from 123 in 2015 to 99 in 2016. IPOs dropped 50% from 18 in 2015 to 9 in 2016. M&As fell as well, down 14% from 105 in 2015 to 90 in 2016. M&As tend to make up the large majority of medical device exits, and reached upwards of 90% of all exits for first the time in 2016.
Recent IPOs include that of iRhythm Technologies in October, and the July IPO of Tactile Systems Technology. iRhythm manufactures a cardiac monitoring system and Tactile Systems develops devices for the treatment of lymphedema.
Other 2016 exits include the acquisitions of Instratek by Stryker in September and Vectec by Peters Surgical in December. Instratek develops devices for hand, foot, and ankle surgery while Vectec develops devices for minimally invasive surgery.
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