The operating environment for medical technology companies becomes more complex, competitive and costly every year. There is no expectation that 2022 will buck that trend, even as the medtech sector prepares for a third year of working under conditions shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The operating environment for medical technology companies becomes more complex, competitive and costly every year. There is no expectation that 2022 will buck that trend, even as the medtech sector prepares for a third year of working under conditions shaped by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ICU Medical will pay about $500m in stock, $1.85bn in cash, and assume certain liabilities to acquire the medical division of Smiths Group. Smiths is also eligible for $100m in milestone payments from ICU Medical. The deal is better than the $2.3bn offer Smiths got from a subsidiary of private equity firm TA Associates earlier in August.

Medtechs took a long look at themselves as they rose to the challenges of COVID-19. How they responded, repurposed and regrouped to tackle the coronavirus was both sobering and uplifting. The lessons of 2020 must be integrated into the digitally-enabled health care systems of 2021 and beyond.