Earl Bakken, who along with a brother-in-law founded what grew to become the world’s largest medical device company, Medtronic (NYSE:MDT), died Oct. 21 at age 94. Bakken and Palmer Hermundslie founded the Minneapolis-area company in 1949, working in an unheated boxcar behind the Hermundslie home. His first innovation was a battery-powered pacemaker designed using transistors that was […]
Medtronic
Where medtech is putting its money this November
Republicans reaped nearly $3.3 million in federal political contributions from the medtech industry in the 2017-18 election cycle, compared with $1.85 million for Democrats, according to data collected by the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonprofit campaign finance watchdog group. Medtech has “historically been a little more Republican than the average industry,” said Andrew Mayersohn, committees researcher […]
Medtronic launches workflow system to help wean patients off oral opioids
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today that it launched its Control Workflow system in the U.S. for use with its SynchroMed II intrathecal drug-delivery system. The medtech titan is hoping that, combined with its pain pump, the workflow system can help physicians in weaning patients off oral opioids. In a retrospective claims analysis, Medtronic found that 51% of […]
Report: Medtronic shuts down pacer programmer updates on hacking risk
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) has disabled internet updates for approximately 34,000 CareLink devices designed for accessing and programming implanted pacemakers due to cybersecurity vulnerabilities with the systems, according to a Reuters report. The vulnerability, revealed this summer by cybersecurity firm researchers, could allow an outside agent to plant malware on the pacers that would allow them to […]
Canada clears Medtronic’s MiniMed 670G insulin pump
Medtronic‘s (NYSE:MDT) Canada subsidiary said today that it won a license from Health Canada for its MiniMed 670G insulin pump system. The insulin pump system is the first device in Canada that stabilizes glucose levels by automatically adjusting basal insulin delivery according to a user’s real-time needs, the medtech titan touted. Get the full story […]
NASS 2018: Robotic platforms take center stage
Here’s a roundup from the North American Spine Society’s annual meeting in Los Angeles Medtech companies in the spinal market are rushing to join the robotic revolution, with Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) and Globus Medical (NYSE:GMED) leading the pack, according to a Leerink Partner analyst’s note from the North American Spine Society’s 2018 annual meeting. In a letter to […]
Medtronic launches Infinity OCT spinal system
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today it launched the Infinity occipitocervical-upper thoracic system intended for use in posterior cervical spine surgery in the US. The Infinity OCT system is designed to be a complete procedural solution which integrates navigation and biologics with the Fridley, Minn.-based company’s devices and instrumentation for posterior cervical spinal surgery procedures. “Some of our […]
M&A chatter: Could J&J be eyeing Boston Scientific, Edwards? Did Medtronic pay too much for Mazor?
The M&A rumors in medtech are in full swing, with a Wells Fargo analyst suggesting that Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) could be eyeing major cardiac device players Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) and Edwards Lifesciences (NYSE:EW) for a big-ticket buy, while a Motley Fool analyst thinks Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) may have paid too much to pick up Mazor Robotics (NSDQ:MZOR). Wells Fargo analyst […]
Medtronic is all-in on surgical robotics with $1.6B Mazor buy
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) is all-in on the surgical robotics game now that’s inked a deal to buy Mazor Robotics (NSDQ:MZOR) for more than $1.6 billion in cash. The world’s largest medical device maker has held a position in Mazor, which makes the Mazor X guidance system and the Renaissance robot-assisted spine surgery platform, since May 2016. In September […]
The 10 largest medical device companies in the world
Medtronic and Johnson & Johnson remain the world’s largest medical device companies. But after that, the roster is radically shifting amid a slew of mergers and acquisitions. In some cases such as GE, Philips and Siemens, major multinationals are breaking apart. We’ve sifted through data from public companies’ annual reports and other publicly disclosed information, […]
Medtronic launches study for bicuspid TAVR in low-risk patients
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today that it’s launching a study of its CoreValve Evolut replacement heart valve in a low-risk patient population with a genetic form of heart disease, following a pair of FDA decisions about the treatment. The Fridley, Minn.-based medtech titan said the FDA granted an investigational device exemption for a single-arm trial of […]