At least 4 medtech exits were significant enough to make the cut for the top 20 venture capital-backed healthcare exits of 2014, according to research firm CB Insights.
In total, VC-backed healthcare exits brought in $13.9 billion last year, with about $1.8 billion coming from medtech companies, according to the firm.
The deals highlighted by CB Insights include CardioMEMS, which was acquired by St. Jude Medical (NYSE:STJ) for $455 million in June. Georgia’s CardioMEMS was backed by Boston-based VC shop Boston Millennia Partners, which 1st put some skin in the CardioMEMS game back in 2003. Another Boston Millennia portfolio company, Precision Dermatology, which Valeant Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:VRX, TSE:VRX) scooped up for $500 million, also made the research firm’s list of notable 2014 exits.
Other medtech exits recognized by CB Insights include Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO), which went public in November; Topera Medical, which was acquired by Abbott (NYSE:ABT) in October; and Small Bone Innovations, which Stryker (NYSE:SYK) acquired in June of last year.
M&A and IPO activity in 2014 was particularly robust for the medical device sector, with about 27 device companies filing or closing initial public offerings as of about mid-December, according to a MassDevice.com analysis. M&A was equally frothy, with 57 deals pulling in $86.39 billion, according to our analysis.
Nearly half of that value represents the blockbuster, $43 billion union of Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Covidien (NYSE:COV). Excluding that deal, the other 56 were collectively worth $43.4 billion – incredibly, still a whopping 203.4% over 2013.
