The unsettling impact that the Trump administration’s health care and tariff initiatives are having on M&A activity and financing is highlighted in a new survey of CEOs and investors, who say uncertainty related to the U.S. policy environment is the top challenge they face when it comes to executing deals.

On the heels of the announcement of German bionics developer Ottobock SE KGaA's pending IPO and more than 20 med-tech IPOs completed to date in 2025, four other med-tech companies spanning three continents queued up to go public on four exchanges, potentially signaling an active fall for med techs worldwide.

German bionics leader Ottobock SE & KGaA plans to list on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange by the end of the year in an IPO targeting gross proceeds of €100 million (US$117.7 million). Ottobock would be the fourth European company to go public this year, a good sign for the European med-tech market, which had not seen any since the first half of 2022.

Uncertainties brought on by tariffs have certainly dampened the optimism in the med tech sector seen at the beginning of the year, as it has slowed M&A and fundraising activity. However, companies developing differentiated products based on solid technology, supported by substantial clinical data, will attract financing and M&A activity will return, Luc Marengère, managing partner at TVM Capital Life Science, told BioWorld.