St. Jude Medical Exec on Medtech M&A Trend: Bigger isn't Always Better

The company’s chief medical officer and vice president of global clinical affairs shares his take on the trend of medtech megamergers.

St. Jude Medical has long been skeptical of rival Medtronic’s attempts to change the medtech industry’s business model.

Last year, after Medtronic began its foray into the hospital solutions realm with the purchase of remote monitoring firm Cardiocom, St. Jude CEO Daniel Starks said his company would continue to define itself as a “high-tech medical device company” focused on disruptive innovation.

This year, Medtronic’s June announcement that it would buy Ireland-based Covidien in a tax inversion deal seems poised to set off a rash of megamergers (starting with BD’s purchase of CareFusion), but St. Jude, again, seems to be refusing to taking the bait.

Mark Carlson, St. Jude’s chief medical officer and president of global clinical affairs, tells MD+DI that he believes the recent spate of M&As in the industry is evidence that companies are adapting to new models of care and delivery.

“Different companies will identify different strategies to be successful in this time of great change,” says Carlson, who will give a keynote on the topic of transforming the future of epidemic disease care at MD&M Minneapolis.

He says St. Jude is constantly looking for ways to provide value to healthcare systems, adding that the company’s ideas are developed internally as well as through partnerships and acquisitions. But he also plays down the idea that sheer size is the key to innovation.

“It’s not about being the biggest company; it’s about making the biggest impact in the areas that carry the most economic and clinical burdens,” Carlson says. “Our guiding principle for all investment decisions—including M&A—is grounded in our commitment to innovation and the impact we can have on transforming medical practice.”

—Jamie Hartford, managing editor, MD+DI
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