After making a significant strategic investment in Oxganox Ltd. earlier this year, Terumo Corp. returned to buy the company. This morning, the companies announced that Terumo would acquire Organox for $1.5 billion, marking Terumo’s entry into the organ transplant sector. The transaction is one of the largest exits ever for the U.K. med-tech sector.
Med-tech deals activity dropped significantly in 2024, falling 84% from $9.83 billion in the first nine months of 2023 to $1.6 billion in the same period this year. While down from $6.59 billion in Q1 to Q3 2022, value is higher than $979.84 million in the comparable period in 2021.
The med-tech sector experienced some relief in the first quarter of 2024 (1Q24) as total financings climbed to $6.38 billion, eclipsing the value of any quarter in 2023. For perspective, the final quarter of 2023 recorded $3.32 billion, and 1Q23 raised $4.69 billion, with an average of $4.42 billion in financings per quarter in 2023.
The new merger guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proven controversial on several fronts, but now the House of Representatives is weighing in.
The new merger guidelines released by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission have proven controversial on several fronts, but now the House of Representatives is weighing in. Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) said the guidelines fail to account for the importance of these transactions for small businesses seeking to grow and requested that the two agencies provide data that would demonstrate whether such concerns were considered in drafting those rules.
Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings Inc. agreed to purchase select assets of Bioreference Health from Opko Health Inc. for $237.5 million in a deal slated to close in the second half of 2024. The transaction could be the start of a buying spree for the country’s second-largest independent laboratory testing service provider, as Labcorp management has laid out an acquisition strategy that focuses on higher-growth areas, particularly reproductive and women’s health.
Echoing trends seen last year, the med-tech industry concluded 2023 with a continued surge in deal value juxtaposed against a more substantial decline in M&A value. Deal value for the year, including licensings, collaborations and joint ventures, reached $10.63 billion from 1,656 deals, the highest annual value in BioWorld’s records.
Most categories of med-tech financings peaked during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the highest values seen in 2020-2021. While public/other and private financings have successfully rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, the aggregate financings for 2023 hit an unprecedented low according to BioWorld’s records.
At its Investor Day on September 20, Boston Scientific Corp. unveiled an ambitious long-range plan to become “the highest performing med-tech large-cap company” in terms of financial performance, sales growth, EPS, execution and talent retention.” That’s a notable step up from its 2021 goal of being just one of the top performers.
Abpro Corp. is making another attempt to go public, this time by merging with Atlantic Coastal Acquisition Corp. II. The merger would put Abpro’s company value at $725 million. Atlantic Coastal is a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that went public in January 2022. Its stock (NASDAQ:ACAB) closed Sept. 22 at $10.63 per share.
