Medtronic Agrees to Buy Neurovascular Access Device Maker Scientia Vascular for $550 Million
The Salt Lake City company's guidewires and catheters would join Medtronic's stroke and aneurysm portfolio in Medtronic's second acquisition announced this year.
Key points
- Medtronic said on March 10 it agreed to acquire Scientia Vascular in a deal valued at $550 million, with possible undisclosed earn-out and milestone payments.
- Scientia, a private company in Salt Lake City with about 310 employees, makes guidewires and catheters used to reach vessels in the brain.
- Medtronic expects the deal to close in the first half of its fiscal 2027 and to be minimally dilutive to adjusted earnings per share that year.
Medtronic said on Tuesday, March 10, that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Scientia Vascular, a privately held maker of guidewires and catheters used to navigate the blood vessels of the brain. The acquisition is valued at $550 million, subject to customary adjustments, with potential undisclosed earn-out and milestone payments after the deal closes, according to Medtronic's announcement.
The company
Scientia operates in Salt Lake City, Utah, and has about 310 employees, Medtronic said. It was founded in 2007 by John Lippert, now its chief technology officer, and moved from Reno, Nevada, to Salt Lake City in 2013, MedTech Dive reported. The company developed a microfabrication technology meant to address the difficulty of reaching the site of an occlusion or aneurysm in the brain's vessels, according to MedTech Dive. Its first guidewire received Food and Drug Administration clearance five years later, and healthcare investor Vivo Capital provided $50 million in equity financing in 2021, the publication reported.
The company's products are access devices: the wires and catheters physicians thread through the vasculature to reach a clot or aneurysm before delivering a treatment. Medtronic said Scientia's platform is designed to improve navigability through complex anatomy and simplify neurovascular procedures, and that its guidewires and catheters can be integrated with Medtronic's existing neurovascular products.
"This acquisition positions Medtronic with a full suite of products," said Linnea Burman, president of Medtronic's neurovascular business. "It builds a strong foundation for Medtronic and supports procedures across both hemorrhagic and acute ischemic stroke."
Scientia chief executive Rick Randall said the deal "positions Medtronic with a comprehensive portfolio and complete guidewire line."
David Fiorella, director of the Cerebrovascular Center at Stony Brook Medicine, was quoted in Medtronic's announcement saying that "Microwires and microcatheters are required for all neurointerventional cases."
Timing and earnings impact
The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of Medtronic's fiscal year 2027, subject to regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Medtronic's fiscal year typically ends in April, MedTech Dive noted. The company expects the deal to be minimally dilutive to its adjusted earnings per share in fiscal 2027 and accretive after that.
Scientia is Medtronic's second acquisition announced this year. In February, the company agreed to buy CathWorks for up to $585 million, according to MedTech Dive.
Medtronic did not disclose Scientia's revenue or the size of the potential earn-out and milestone payments.
Sources
- Medtronic to acquire Scientia Vascular, marrying access and therapeutic portfolios for neurovascular care, Medtronic newsroom, March 10, 2026
- Medtronic to acquire Scientia Vascular for $550M, MedTech Dive, March 10, 2026