Recently, Medtronic, the world's leading medical device company, announced the completion of its acquisition of CathWorks, significantly increasing its investment in the cardiovascular field.

Image source: Medtronic official website

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Cardiovascular track
Continue to increase investment

CathWorks, founded in 2013, has focused on developing cardiovascular imaging and treatment solutions based on computer vision and artificial intelligence technologies , aiming to provide objective data for percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) decisions. It's worth noting that Medtronic's acquisition of CathWorks was not accidental, but rather the result of nearly eight years of gradual integration.

As early as 2018, Medtronic already held a minority stake in CathWorks; in 2022, the relationship between the two parties was further upgraded to a strategic partnership, at which time Medtronic invested approximately US$75 million to jointly promote CathWorks' core product, the FFRangio system, in the US, European, and Japanese markets .

On February 3, 2026, Medtronic officially announced that it would exercise its option to acquire CathWorks for up to US$585 million (approximately RMB 3.987 billion); on April 20, Medtronic officially announced the completion of the acquisition of CathWorks.

According to data from PharmNet Medical Devices, CathWorks currently has two products launched in the United States , the core product of which, mentioned above, is the FFRangio system. Medtronic's option to acquire CathWorks is based on the outstanding performance and market feedback of FFRangio in actual clinical practice.

The FFRangio system combines AI technology and advanced computational science to rapidly and reliably obtain fractional flow reserve (FFR, a diagnostic technique for assessing the physiological effects of coronary artery stenosis) values from routine angiography (X-rays) without the need for drug stimulation and invasive pressure guidewires, thus overturning the limitations of traditional products.

Furthermore, the FFRangio system presented excellent one-year results from the large randomized controlled trial ALL-RISE, which will be presented at the 2026 American College of Cardiology Annual Meeting. It also features shorter operation time and higher resource utilization .

This acquisition of CathWorks will help Medtronic further improve its cardiovascular product portfolio, consolidate its leading position in the cardiovascular field, and enhance its competitiveness in this sector. Furthermore, in the wave of AI, Medtronic is expected to leverage AI to achieve intelligent upgrades in its diagnostic and treatment processes.

Furthermore, it's worth noting that Medtronic is continuously increasing its investment in the cardiovascular sector. Recently, Medtronic led a $100 million strategic financing round for Pulnovo Medical and signed a commercialization cooperation agreement with the company. With this significant investment, Medtronic's cardiovascular strategy is rapidly expanding through a combination of in-house R&D, acquisitions, and strategic investments.

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Strong growth
"Reinforcement-type" mergers and acquisitions

Judging from Medtronic's development in recent years, its overall growth momentum is strong, with many potential products being approved one after another. According to data from PharmNet Medical Devices, Medtronic has launched 8,003 products in the United States and 382 products in China , boasting a rich product pipeline covering multiple fields.
Medtronic's latest financial report shows outstanding performance, thanks to its rich product portfolio. On February 17, 2026, Medtronic announced its results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2026 (ending January 23, 2026), with quarterly revenue reaching $9 billion , an increase of 8.7% year-over-year, marking its strongest growth in nearly 10 quarters .

In terms of business segment structure, Medtronic's four major segments all experienced varying degrees of growth. Among them, the cardiovascular business remained Medtronic's core growth driver, achieving revenue of $3.457 billion, a year-on-year increase of 13.8% , making it the fastest-growing of the four segments. The key driver of this growth was the cardiac pulse field ablation (PFA) business, which surged 80% in a single quarter and grew by 137% in the United States, demonstrating outstanding overall performance. The product portfolio includes Pulseselect, the Affera radiofrequency ablation system, and the Sphere-9 catheter, and is one of Medtronic's important growth drivers.

In addition, among the other three major business segments: the neuroscience business portfolio ($2.558 billion, up 4.1%), the medical surgery product portfolio ($2.173 billion, up 4.9%), and the diabetes business ($796 million, up 14.8%), although some business growth slowed down, all showed an overall upward trend.

It is worth noting that Medtronic recently completed the spin-off of its diabetes business. On March 6, it was officially spun off and listed under the name MiniMed, with the ticker symbol "MMED," an offering price of $20, raising $560 million. This spin-off is also a continuation of Medtronic's business streamlining strategy implemented in recent years .

Since 2023, Medtronic has successively spun off its kidney care business through its joint venture Mozarc Medical and exited the ventilator business in 2024, continuously focusing its business portfolio on high-growth, high-margin areas. The spin-off of the diabetes business, Medtronic's smallest revenue segment, is both a strategic necessity and provides the business with more flexible development space.

While streamlining and divesting its businesses, Medtronic is also increasing its efforts in "reinforcement" acquisitions to quickly fill product pipeline gaps in its strategically focused sectors, further strengthen its technology, and create synergies.

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Conclusion

Overall, Medtronic's current strategic focus is primarily on divesting smaller or slower-growing businesses to concentrate on high-growth sectors and strengthening its technological moat through mergers, acquisitions, and investments. With the completion of yet another promising deal, Medtronic is entering a new development cycle with a more aggressive approach.

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