Dive Brief:
- Stryker has completed the acquisition of Amplitude Vascular Systems, less than a month after the deal was announced. The financial terms were not disclosed.
- Amplitude has developed the Pulse intravascular lithotripsy platform to treat severely calcified arterial disease. The device uses pressure waves generated by carbon dioxide and delivered through a balloon catheter to fracture the calcium and expand narrowed vessels, restoring blood flow.
- Stryker said adding an IVL platform will strengthen its peripheral vascular portfolio, which includes the Inari Medical clot-removal business the company acquired last year for about $4.9 billion.
Dive Insight:
IVL is used to treat coronary artery disease and peripheral artery disease, where narrowed vessels reduce blood flow to the limbs.
The market for IVL technology is attracting medtech’s biggest companies. Johnson & Johnson’s 2024 purchase of Shockwave Medical for $13.1 billion was the industry’s biggest acquisition that year.
Meanwhile, Boston Scientific made its move to enter the market last year with the acquisition of Bolt Medical, paying up to $664 million for the remaining stake in the company that it did not already own.
Abbott is also pursuing the IVL market. The device maker gained approval in 2025 to begin a U.S. clinical trial of a treatment for severely calcified coronary arteries, after buying IVL developer Cardiovascular Systems for $890 million in 2023.
Amplitude began enrolling patients in a U.S. pivotal IVL study in 2024. The Boston-based company raised $36 million in January 2025 to support launching the device and U.S. trials to study the system in treating coronary and carotid disease.
Stryker continues to be busy on the M&A front. CEO Kevin Lobo told investors on last week’s earnings call that the company has the cash to do more deals.
“We have a good pipeline,” said Lobo, “and you should expect us to be active in M&A going through the end of this year and into next year.”
