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Medical device M&A just had its strongest quarter in years, and the data tells a story bigger than a simple rebound. According to Mirus Capital Advisors’ newly released Q1 2026 Medical Device Report, the industry isn’t just recovering from a rough 2023; it’s reorganizing around a new set of winners: artificial intelligence in diagnostics, robotic surgery, and cardiovascular innovation.
As Mirus partner Thom Busby put it in the report, this is an environment for “any medical device or equipment business >$20M revenue to take some calls.”
After a challenging stretch from the post-COVID years through 2023, strategic acquirers are back at the table with conviction. Mirus’s report points to GE HealthCare, Stryker, Medtronic, and Boston Scientific as the most active large-cap buyers this quarter, all circling the same three targets: AI-enabled diagnostics, robotic-assisted surgery platforms, and cardiovascular devices.
What’s notable is why this is happening now. Interest rates have stabilized, balance sheets have strengthened, and perhaps most interestingly, MedTech is being treated by public markets as a defensive play against the volatility rattling the software sector amid AI disruption. In other words, hardware and clinically validated technology are looking safer to investors than they have in years, a reversal from the software-eats-everything narrative that dominated the last decade.
The clearest signal of where the smart money is headed came in March, when Sectra, the Swedish medical imaging and cybersecurity firm, acquired Oxipit, a Vilnius-based developer of clinically validated AI for radiology. Oxipit holds the first CE Class IIB certification for autonomous AI in chest X-ray analysis, a regulatory milestone that matters more than it might sound.
This deal builds directly on the thesis established by earlier transactions in the AI diagnostics space, including Tempus in late 2024 and early 2025. The pattern that’s emerging: buyers are no longer paying for algorithmic promise alone. They’re paying for platforms that combine proven clinical validation with workflow integration that health systems can actually deploy. Autonomous radiology AI is graduating from pilot programs to acquisition targets, and that shift alone should reframe how founders in the space think about their exit timelines.
Surgical robotics is having its own moment, though the competitive dynamics look different than diagnostics. The field has expanded rapidly over the past year on the back of new FDA clearances, funding rounds, and clinical trials. Two distinct tiers are forming: large multinational players positioning to challenge Intuitive Surgical’s two-decade dominance, and smaller, specialized firms carving out niches in specific procedures and newer sites of care like ambulatory surgery centers.
Robotic assistance is broadening well beyond its traditional strongholds into cardiac surgery, ophthalmology, microsurgery, and endovascular procedures. Rather than a zero-sum battle for market share, this looks like genuine market expansion, with innovation and competition extending minimally invasive options to more patients rather than simply redividing the existing pie.
Q1’s private equity activity underscores a broader shift in where sponsors see value. Beyond the traditional CDMO consolidation play, PE investors are increasingly targeting well-operated product businesses in orthopedic and surgical segments, deals like Zavation’s acquisition of Choice Spine and Resonetics’ purchase of Resolution Medical reflect that pattern.
On the growth capital side, later-stage financings continue to dominate investor attention, with several rounds exceeding $50 million closing in the first quarter. Anteris Technologies raised $320 million in structural heart, Cognito Therapeutics closed a $105 million Series C in neurotechnology, and ImperativeCare secured a $100 million convertible note in the thromboembolic space. But the bigger story is how companies are raising that money. Management teams are increasingly reaching for venture debt, private credit, and strategic investments alongside traditional equity, a sign that founders are getting more sophisticated about minimizing dilution while they wait for the M&A window to fully reopen.
Not every headline this quarter was about growth. Stryker disclosed a March cyberattack on its Microsoft environment that wiped data from more than 200,000 systems, servers, and mobile devices. While Stryker reported no ransomware and described the incident as contained, some hospitals using its devices took precautionary measures, and federal cybersecurity officials opened an investigation.
The episode is a reminder that as medical devices and hospital software environments become more interconnected, a single vendor compromise can ripple across an entire health system. For an industry racing to embed AI and connectivity into more of its product lines, supply-chain security and vendor access controls are quickly becoming as important a diligence item as clinical data.
Perhaps the most striking chart in the Mirus report is the three-year public market performance comparison. Large-cap medical device stocks have meaningfully underperformed the S&P 500 since early 2023, and mid-cap names have fared even worse; both cohorts have spent extended stretches in negative territory relative to their starting point, even as the broader market climbed toward 80% gains.
That divergence is worth sitting with. It suggests the M&A enthusiasm described throughout the report isn’t simply riding a rising tide in public equities. Strategic buyers are stepping in because they see mispriced, differentiated assets, not because MedTech stocks are hot. For private companies eyeing an exit, that’s an important nuance: the appetite is real, but it’s coming from acquirers hunting for value, not chasing momentum.
Whether that urgency holds through the rest of 2026 will depend on tariff policy, interest rates, and how many more Oxipit-style proof points the AI diagnostics category can produce. But for now, the message from Q1 is clear. The MedTech deal frenzy that built through the back half of 2025 has real momentum, and it’s concentrating around companies that can prove clinical validation, not just clever technology.
Mirus’ Quarterly Medical Device report
As MedTech dealmaking accelerates and funding strategies evolve, these trends will take centre stage at MedTech World Asia 2026 in Hong Kong, taking place from 26 to 28 August. Join investors, founders, corporate leaders, and industry experts to explore the forces shaping the next phase of healthcare innovation.
Don’t miss the panel discussion, “Beyond VC: Strategic Partnerships, Corporate Venture, and Alternative Funding Models,” where experts will examine how MedTech companies are securing capital beyond traditional venture funding. Alongside this session, attendees can explore a comprehensive programme covering AI diagnostics, surgical robotics, digital health, market access across Asia-Pacific, investment trends, and much more.
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