Coloplast goes for the throat

The third-largest medtech acquisition of the year happened with little fanfare this week. Coloplast spent €2.2bn ($2.5bn) on Atos Medical, a maker of devices for tracheostomy and laryngectomy patients, knocking ICU Medical’s purchase of Smiths Group’s medical business into fourth place. The Sweden-based Atos occupies more than 80% of the laryngectomy market, according to Coloplast, with sales last year of SEK2.2bn ($253m). Coloplast, which had a difficult 2020 as the pandemic hit its hospital business, has recovered surprisingly well, with its stock up 23% year to date. Its sales are forecast to grow at a respectable annual rate of 8% to 2026, Evaluate Medtech data show; perhaps, with the inclusion of Atos’s technology, they will grow faster still.