At least 369 companies filed for initial public offerings last year, a 44% increase over 2013, and the medical device industry was no exception.
Thirty-one medtech companies decided to test the public markets last year, according to a MassDevice.com analysis, with 21 closing on a collective $1.34 billion.
That’s a dramatic change from 2013, when just 4 companies filed for IPOs, according to VentureSource. In 2013, the medical device industry saw just $2.5 billion invested in the space, making that the quietest year medical device investments since 2005.
Raj Denhoy, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. who’s tracked the medical device industry for nearly 15 years, told MassDevice.com that the surge in IPOs came as investors regained confidence in the once high-flying device sector.
“The pace of evolution in this industry over the past 5 or 8 years has been pretty dramatic," Denhoy said. "It wasn’t just the economy. There was also a lot of insurance push-back on a lot of these bigger categories, whether it was ICDs or stents or spine procedures.
"That period of uncertainty for medical device companies was also there for medical device investors. The threshold for bringing new technologies and companies to market was pretty high," he told us. "We’re not growing 15%, but I don’t think anybody thinks that the device companies are going out of business anymore."
Investors seemed more confident in the dry herb vaping tips sector last year, rewarding medtech IPOs with an average 27.0% increase on their offering prices. For example, latecomer Nevro Corp.‘s (NYSE:NVRO) shares gained 114.8% on their $18 opening price, and iRadimed (NSDQ:IRMD) added 106.4% to its $6.25 opening price. Here are the top 5 medtech IPO performers of 2014, by their closing price Dec. 31, 2014:
| Company | Price | Close | Gain |
| Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) | $18.00 | $38.67 | 114.8% |
| iRadimed (NSDQ:IRMD) | $6.25 | $12.90 | 106.4% |
| Inogen (NSDQ:INGN) | $16.00 | $31.37 | 96.1% |
| Allied Minds (LON:ALM) | £1.90 | £3.67 | 93.2% |
| Ocular Therapeutix (NSDQ:OCUL) | $13.00 | $23.52 | 80.9% |
A few medtech flotations didn’t fare as well, posting share price declines of as much as 86%. Here are the top 5 worst-performing IPOs of 2014:
| Company | Price | Close | Loss |
| Amedica (NSDQ:AMDA) | $5.75 | $0.80 | -86.1% |
| Semler Scientific (NSDQ:SMLR) | $7.00 | $1.96 | -72.0% |
| Lombard Medical (NSDQ:EVAR) | $11.00 | $6.50 | -40.9% |
| Mainstay Medical (EPA:MSTY) | €21.15 | €15.00 | -29.1% |
| Corium (NSDQ:CORI) | $8.00 | $6.10 | -23.8% |
The largest medtech IPO last year was medtech incubator Allied Minds (LON:ALM) at $212.2 million, followed by Nevro at $126 million. Here’s a look at the largest public debuts of last year:
| Company | IPO value (m) |
| Allied Minds (LON:ALM) | $212,200,000 |
| Nevro (NYSE:NVRO) | $126,000,000 |
| K2M (NSDQ:KTWO) | $120,000,000 |
| Lumenis (NSDQ:LMNS) | $94,000,000 |
| TriVascular Technologies (NSDQ:TRIV) | $78,000,000 |
