MPO’s Most-Read Stories This Week—June 8

M&A was the prime pageview pleaser this past week on the MPO website.

Acquisition-related news from BD, WACKER, and J&J proved popular with website visitors. BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) was the top M&A-induced traffic driver with its $4.2 billion cash deal to acquire Edwards Lifesciences’ Critical Care business. Inventor of the hemodynamic monitoring category, Edwards’ Critical Care business’s advanced patient monitoring and artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms are used in more than 10,000 hospitals to better understand critically ill patients’ cardiovascular conditions in real-time. Hemodynamic monitoring and medication management tech are often used at the same time in the operating room or intensive care unit. The business employs about 4,500 workers, most of whom are based in Irvine, Calif. The deal is expected to close before the end of the year.

WACKER attracted online visitors as well by announcing it has acquired the manufacturing assets of Bio Med Sciences Inc. in a move that expands WACKER’s expertise and business in silicone-coated healthcare products. The majority of Bio Med Sciences’ workforce will relocate to Wacker and the acquired assets will be renamed to Wacker Silicone Manufactured Innovations LLC (WSMI). The entity, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wacker Chemical Corporation, will serve customers and offer prototype development, technical, and contract manufacturing services to the medical device and wound care markets.
 
Johnson & Johnson added to the site’s digital bandwidth by completing its acquisition of Shockwave Medical, which now operates as a Johnson & Johnson MedTech business unit. The $13.1 billion deal was first revealed in April 2024. 

Bookending the people-pleasing M&A news trifecta this past week was Kurin’s new chief commercial officer hire (the premiere pageview producer), and Medtronic’s Class I recall of certain versions of its StealthStation S8 application. Deemed a correction rather than a product removal, the company recalled StealthStation S8 Application Versions 1.2.0, 1.1.0, 1.0.3, 1.0.2, and 1.0.1 after receiving complaints about a software error that caused numbers or letters to be missing from the displayed text. They are replaced by a space in either the “distance to target” or “tip stop point” display during navigation.

1. Kurin Names Solventum VP Christine Arme as Chief Commercial Officer

2. BD to Buy Edwards’ Critical Care Biz for $4.2 Billion

3. WACKER Acquires a Majority of Bio Med Sciences

4. J&J Closes $13.1B Deal for Shockwave Medical

5. Medtronic Has Serious StealthStation S8 Recall Over Software Error