Medtronic
Medtronic plc is an Irish medical device company. The company's legal and executive headquarters are in Ireland, while its operational headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Medtronic rebased to Ireland following its acquisition of Irish-based Covidien in 2015. While it primarily operates in the United States, it operates in more than 150 countries and employs over 90,000 people. It develops and manufactures healthcare technologies and therapies. It is one of the biggest medical tech companies in the world and is currently the largest medical device company in the world by revenue.
The company has developed several world-first technologies since its inception, including wearable and implantable pacemakers, the implantable cardioverter-defibrillator, and remote monitoring systems. They also created miniaturized devices like the world's smallest pacemaker and spinal cord stimulator.
History
Foundation and early years
Medtronic was founded in 1949 in Minneapolis by Earl Bakken and his brother-in-law, Palmer Hermundslie, as a medical equipment repair shop. Bakken invented several medical technology devices that continue to be used around the world today.Through his repair business, Bakken came to know C. Walton Lillehei, a doctor of heart surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School. The deficiencies of artificial pacemakers at the time became evident during a power outage over Halloween in 1957, which affected large sections of Minnesota and western Wisconsin. A pacemaker-dependent paediatric patient of Lillehei died because of the blackout. The next day, Lillehei spoke with Bakken about developing some form of battery-powered pacemaker. Bakken modified the design for a transistorized metronome and created the first battery-powered external pacemaker. It fit in a four-inch-square box that could be taped to a patient's chest, transmitted electrical signals to the heart through wires that passed through the patient's chest, and could be removed without surgery.
The company expanded through the 1950s, both selling equipment built by other companies and developing custom-made devices. Bakken built a small pacemaker that could be strapped to the body and powered by batteries. Work in the new field later produced an implantable pacemaker in 1960. The company built its headquarters in the Minneapolis suburb of St. Anthony, Minnesota, in 1960, and moved to Fridley in the 1970s. Medtronic's main competitors in the cardiac rhythm field include Boston Scientific and St. Jude Medical.
Growth and expansion
In 1997, Medtronic opened a production site for implantable pacemakers and brain pacemakers in Tolochenaz, Switzerland. One in five pacemakers implanted globally today is made here. The site is also used as a European training centre for doctors.In 1998, Medtronic acquired Physio-Control for $538 million.
In 2014, Integra LifeSciences announced it was acquiring instrumentation lines from Medtronic for $60 million. The deal included Medtronic's MicroFrance and Xomed manual ear, nose and throat and laparoscopic surgical instruments, as well as a manufacturing facility in France.
In February 2016, the company announced that it would acquire Bellco from private equity firm Charme Capital Partners. In June, the company announced its acquisition of HeartWare International Inc. for $1.1 billion. In December 2017, Medtronic acquired Crospon for €38 million. In September 2018, the company acquired Mazor Robotics for $1.64 billion technology developer. A separate agreement gave Medtronic the option to acquire CathWorks in the future.
In October 2022, the company announced its intention to pursue a separation of the company's combined Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, which are part of the company's Medical Surgical Portfolio.
In February 2024, the company announced that it had reversed its decision to spin-off or sell the Patient Monitoring and Respiratory Interventions businesses, and would instead combine them into a new business unit called Acute Care & Monitoring. They also announced that they would discontinue the ventilator product line, citing its unprofitability.
Acquisition history
- Medtronic
- *Medtronic plc
- **Medtronic Inc.
- ***Ardian Inc
- ***Osteotech Inc
- ***ATS Medical
- ***Krauth Cardiovascular
- ***Fogazzi
- ***Invatec
- ***PEAK Surgical, Inc<
- ***Salient Surgical Technologies Inc
- ***China Kanghui Holdings
- ***NGC Medical
- ***Sapiens Steering Brain Stimulation
- ***TYRX Inc
- **Covidien
- ***Sapheon Inc
- ***Reverse Medical Corporation
- ***Given Imaging
- ***Aspect Medical Systems
- ***Somanetics Corp
- ***ev3 Inc
- ***CV Ingenuity
- ***BÂRRX
- ***Newport Medical Instruments
- ***superDimension
- ***Oridion Systems
- ***VNUS Medical Technologies
- ***Zephyr Technology
- *Advanced Uro-Solutions
- *Diabeter
- *CardioInsight Technologies
- *Aptus Endosystems
- *RF Surgical Systems
- *Medina Medical
- *Lazarus Effect
- *Bellco
- *HeartWare International Inc
- *Crospon
- *Mazor Robotics
- *Nutrino Health Ltd
- *Titan Spine
- *Klue
- *Stimgenics, LLC
- *Medicrea
- *Companion Medical
- *Avenu Medical
- *Intersect ENT
- *Digital Surgery
- *Affera, Inc.
Global rankings
In March 2017, Bloomberg's database of U.S. tax inversions listed Medtronic and Wright Medical Group, as the only U.S. tax inversions of a U.S. medical device company in history. In February 2018, the Wall Street Journal listed Medtronic's 2015 tax inversion to Ireland as the largest U.S. corporate tax inversion executed between 2013 and 2016. In May 2018, Medtronic was ranked as the largest corporate tax inversion in history.
| Rank | Company name | 2017 Revenue | Legal headquarters | Executive headquarters | Parent company |
| 1 | Medtronic | 29,710 | Dublin, Ireland | Fridley, Minnesota, U.S. | – |
| 2 | DePuy Synthes | 26,592 | Raynham, MA, U.S. | – | Johnson & Johnson |
| 3 | Fresenius Medical Care | 20,900 | Bad Homburg, Germany | – | Fresenius SE |
| 4 | Philips Healthcare | 20,896 | Amsterdam, Netherlands | – | Philips |
| 5 | GE Healthcare | 19,116 | Chicago, Illinois, U.S. | – | General Electric |
| 6 | Siemens Healthineers | 16,206 | Erlangen, Germany | – | Siemens |
| 7 | Cardinal Health | 13,524 | Dublin, Ohio, U.S. | – | – |
| 8 | Stryker | 12,444 | Kalamazoo, Michigan, U.S. | – | – |
| 9 | Becton Dickinson | 12,093 | Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, U.S. | – | – |
| 10 | Baxter International | 10,561 | Deerfield, Illinois, U.S. | – | – |
In November 2021, the company was added to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index.
Business units and subsidiaries
Medtronic has four main business units: the Minimally Invasive Therapies Group, the Diabetes Group, the Restorative Therapies Group, and the Cardiac and Vascular Group. Medtronic develops and manufactures devices and therapies to treat more than 30 chronic diseases, including heart failure, Parkinson disease, urinary incontinence, Down syndrome, obesity, chronic pain, spinal disorders and diabetes.Acute care and monitoring
Acute care and monitoring is based out of Lafayette, Colorado and produces non-invasive sensors and monitoring products, used for patient monitoring in the hospital and home settings. It has absorbed the portfolios of acquired companies, including Covidien, Nellcor, Somanetics, Aspect Medical Systems, Oridion Medical and Zephyr Technology. This business unit produces pulse oximetry, capnography, and bispectral index sensors, patient monitors, remote patient monitoring software, and electronic medical record connectivity software.Cardiac rhythm disease management
Cardiac rhythm disease management is the oldest and largest of Medtronic's business units. Its work in heart rhythm therapies dates back to 1957 when Bakken developed the first wearable heart pacemaker to treat abnormally slow heart rates. Since then, it has expanded its expertise in electrical stimulation to treat other cardiac rhythm diseases. It has also made an effort to address overall disease management by adding diagnostic and monitoring capabilities to many of its devices. An independently-operating Dutch pacemaker manufacturer, Vitatron, acquired by Medtronic in 1986, is now a European subsidiary of the unit. Medtronic and Vitatron pacemakers are interrogated and programmed by Medtronic Carelink Model 2090 Programmer for Medtronic and Vitatron Devices; they use separate interfaces.In 2007, Medtronic recalled its Sprint Fidelis product, the flexible wires, or leads, which connect a defibrillator to the interior of the heart. The leads were found to be failing at an unacceptable rate, resulting in unnecessary shocks or no shocks when needed; either can be lethal. The scope of the problem continues to be a matter of research. Studies since the recall, disputed by Medtronic, suggest that the failure rate of already-implanted Sprint Fidelis leads is increasing exponentially. Medtronic's liability is limited by various court decisions.
Spinal and biologics
Spinal and biologics is Medtronic's second-largest business. Medtronic is the world leader in spinal and musculoskeletal therapies. In 2007, Medtronic purchased Kyphon, a manufacturer and seller of spinal implants that are necessary for procedures like kyphoplasty.In May 2008, Medtronic Spine agreed to pay the US government $75 million to settle a qui tam lawsuit after a whistleblower alleged that Medtronic committed Medicare fraud. The company was charged with illegally convincing healthcare providers to offer kyphoplasty, a spinal fracture repair surgery, as an inpatient, not an outpatient, procedure to make thousands of dollars more in profits per surgery.
A "special report" by writer Steven Brill in Time showed that according to Medtronic's quarterly SEC filing of October 2012, the company had, on average, a 75.1% profit margin on its spine products and therapies.