The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on elective and nonessential procedures, and with them the medical device companies they depend on, but early signs of recovery are encouraging, according to Raghav Tangri, of (DRG), which is part of Clarivate. That said, Tangri told BioWorld that while the second quarter is expected to be the most strongly impacted period this year, the speed of recovery will depend on a number of factors, including the possibility of a second wave of the coronavirus outbreak and how soon a vaccine is available.

While med-tech dealmaking in the second quarter of 2020 increased by 27% from the first quarter and is in line with the values disclosed during the same period in 2019, M&A money for the industry has fallen significantly.

At about $35.6 billion raised by med-tech companies, the first half of 2020 has already pulled in more than the full-year totals for 2017 and 2018 and is at about 87% of what was raised in 2019. Most of the money is coming through private financings of public companies, including large notes offerings and private placements, as well as follow-on offerings.