The 2019 Top 30 Global Medical Device Companies

The lack of a significant megamerger in 2018 stood out in an industry that had become accustomed to annual blockbuster deals. There were enough small- to mid-sized deals to keep analysts interested, but the largest deal of last year—Boston Scientific’s $4.2 billion purchase of U.K.-based BTG plc—doesn’t seem as significant in the wake of several mergers valued in the tens of billions.

A number of the medtech elites did just the opposite, spinning off entire companies or divesting large franchises to refocus their businesses. Pharmaceutical giant Novartis began spinning off its Alcon eye care unit last July, and Alcon took its first steps as a standalone company this past April. Danaher also proclaimed plans to spin off its decaying dental franchise last July. Siemens explored a European IPO for its Healthineers unit last March that valued the company at 28 billion euros. Johnson & Johnson sold its LifeScan glucometer business to Platinum Equity for $2.1 billion last October and streamlined its portfolio further with the $2.8 billion sale of its Advanced Sterilization Products business to Fortive Corp. BD handed Thermo Fisher its Advanced Bioprocessing franchise for $477 million last October. GE teased a spinoff of GE Healthcare last June amid massive restructuring efforts, but decided in the end to shed its biopharmaceutical business to Danaher for $21.4 billion.

Humanitarian efforts among the Top 30 abounded last year as well. As part of its “Healthy People, sustainable strategy” initiative, Philips proclaimed it would generate 15 percent of revenue from selling refurbished equipment to reduce health systems’ environmental footprint. EssilorLuxottica partnered with Total Group and several Asia-Pacific governments to improve access to vision care services and eyewear through its Eye Mitra program. Zimmer Biomet teamed up with Faith in Practice to deliver knee replacements to Guatemalans in need and hopes to expand the scope to trauma surgeries and hip replacements. Finally, Hillrom began its “Hillrom for Humanity” last year, which facilitates corporate volunteerism through environmental sustainability initiatives, medical equipment donations, disaster relief, and STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) enrichment.

We hope you enjoy reading this year’s Top 30 reports.

Editors’ note: As you read our report, please take note that while the companies are ranked according to sales reported for their most recent fiscal year, some may include non-device sales within a division, such as combination products, drug delivery, software, or device-related services. Not all companies explicitly break out the device portion of total revenues. We consulted numerous public documents and contacted company officials as needed to arrive at the best estimates. Also note that foreign currency conversions were done based on the exchange rate at the end of the fiscal reporting period being discussed.