The data compares the sensitivity of almost 200 diagnostics against a standardized set of samples.

Medtech companies brought in $2.3 billion in financing in Q1 2017, a slight decrease from Q4 2016; device M&A deals totaled $5.8 billion, a sharp decline from the prior quarter, but there were some billion-dollar deals. Q1 diagnostics financings – totaling $1.2 billion (thanks to a $900 million Series B round by cancer diagnostics company Grail) – showed a significant increase over the preceding quarter, as did the Q1 M&As at $700 million versus the previous $87 million.

The number of big medtech venture rounds, those worth at least $50 million, has decreased and plateaued over the past couple of years, but the overall dollars brought in by those scarce deals notably increased in 2015. And a few lucky medtech firms managed to grab more than $100 million from single fundraises last year.

Our 12th annual analysis reveals both an expansion of historical patterns of Series A financings and the emergence of a new group of heavily committed, relatively short-term investors.