One of Queensland’s largest medtech manufacturers divests cardiac lead business

MedTech & Diagnostics News: Two medtech companies have announced a significant transaction in the electrophysiology market, which includes medical devices and accessories for procedures involving pacemaker and implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) leads.

Merit Medical Systems has entered into a $210 million deal to acquire Cook Medical’s cardiac lead management portfolio.

Cook Medical Australia employs more than 600 people and is one of Queensland’s largest medical device manufacturers and exporters. It is one of a few companies in the world to make custom (hand-sewn) aortic stents that aim to improve the outcomes for patients requiring endovascular repair worldwide and is an Australian (Brisbane) manufacturing and medical success story. The company exports more than 94% of the locally manufactured products to medical providers worldwide.

Over the past year, Cook Medical has made several divestments, selling its ENT business to C2Dx, its reproductive health division to private equity firm Astorg, and its gynaecology products to CooperCompanies.

Merit, meanwhile, has been on a buying spree. In the last 15 months, it has acquired dialysis catheters and a sealant system from Angiodynamic for $100 million, a catheter system from Bluegrass Vascular Technologies for $32.5 million, and an acid reflux treatment from Endogastric Solutions for $105 million.

Fred Lampropoulos, Merit’s Chairman and CEO said “This transaction is consistent with our Continued Growth Initiatives (CGI) and positions Merit to offer clinicians an increasingly comprehensive set of solutions to support cardiac intervention patients, from diagnosis, to therapy and intervention, to post-procedure care.”

Lampropoulos added, “We believe this transaction will strengthen our fast-growing, high-margin electrophysiology and CRM business with the addition of differentiated products and an established commercial infrastructure. We believe the transaction will enhance our position in the cardiac intervention market, which we estimate represents an annual addressable opportunity of more than $900 million in the US, EMEA, and APAC regions.”

The deal is expected to contribute over $100 million in annual revenue to Merit’s electrophysiology and cardiac rhythm management business by 2025, further positioning the company as a dominant force in the global cardiac intervention space.

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