Third-quarter device financing at $2.38 billion – almost half of that amount from CooperSurgical's $1.1 billion bridge loan – was double the Q2 total, while device acquisitions showed a steep decrease at $3.38 billion versus Q2's $33.4 billion. Diagnostics fundraising also was up in the third quarter, reaching $2.4 billion (a 133% increase over Q2) mostly from Thermo Fisher Scientific's $1.5 billion follow-on offering, which accounted for 63% of the total. In line with the previous quarter's $1.7 billion in M&A, Q3 diagnostics acquisitions had an aggregate value of $1.8 billion, led by Konica Minolta's $1 billion buy of Ambry Genetics.

With a contribution from the Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Konica Minolta – the Japanese conglomerate better known for its printers and copiers – agreed to pay $1bn for Ambry Genetics as the first part of planned precision medicine platform.

This week, the US government relaunched a program providing free COVID-19 tests and invested $600m in domestic test manufacturing; the European Commission revealed an antitrust investigation of Edwards LifeSciences; and a consulting firm report said the medtech industry should make big changes to address investor skepticism.