J&J boosts medtech biz with $13.1B Shockwave deal

April 5, 2024

Johnson & Johnson will acquire all outstanding shares of cardiovascular medical device company Shockwave Medical, in a deal valued at approximately $13.1 billion.

California-based Shockwave provides innovative intravascular lithotripsy (IVL) technology for the treatment of calcified coronary artery disease (CAD) and peripheral artery disease (PAD). The tech is a minimally invasive, catheter-based treatment for calcified arterial lesions, which can reduce blood flow and lead to pain or heart attacks.

For J&J, the deal beefs up its medtech unit's position in cardiovascular intervention and speeds up its shift into higher-growth markets. The acquisition will expand J&J MedTech's cardiovascular portfolio into two growing segments of cardiovascular intervention — CAD and PAD.

The transaction follows J&J MedTech’s $16.6 billion acquisition of heart pump maker Abiomed in December 2022 and a $400 million buy of heart device maker Laminar in November 2023.

More recently, J&J inked a deal to acquire San Diego-based Ambrx Biopharma in a next-gen ADC deal valued at approximately $2 billion.