Covid-19 scrambles big medtech’s spending

The largest medical device makers have reacted to the seismic changes wrought by the Covid-19 pandemic by spending more on research than ever before. The top 10 groups spent, between them, $15.6bn on R&D last year, a 4% increase from 2019 – despite this cohort’s total 2020 device sales showing a year-on-year increase of just 1%.