Top 5 Manufacturers of Medical Equipment

The manufacture of medical equipment is a somewhat specialized business. There are hundreds of companies out there, but only a handful that control the majority of the medical equipment products used worldwide. And while most of us don’t come in contact with their products on a regular basis, the development of reliable medical devices and tools is what makes the work of doctors and nurses possible. Here are 5 of today’s top manufacturers of medical equipment.

Cardinal Health, Inc.
Cardinal Health is ranked 18th on the list of Fortune 500 companies. Though today it is heavily involved in the manufacture of medical equipment and pharmaceutical drugs, Cardinal was originally a food wholesaler. Founded in 1971 by Robert D. Walter, the company did not enter the medical industry until it acquired the Bailey Drug Company in 1979. Today, Cardinal rakes in an annual profit of approximately $97 billion.

Johnson & Johnson
Famous for manufacturing Tylenol, Band-Aid, Listerine, and many other consumer health products, Johnson & Johnson is also one of the biggest producers of non-surgical medical equipment. Started in 1886, Johnson & Johnson ranks consistently among the Fortune 500 companies and has an annual revenue of about $61 billion. It has one the best corporate reputations in the world.

St. Jude Medical, Inc.
St. Jude Medical specializes in the production and development of medical equipment. Founded in 1976, the company now has 20 different manufacturing and research facilities worldwide. Among the many medical devices it produces there are artificial pacemakers, patient monitors, catheters, heart valves and spinal cord stimulators.

Boston Scientific Corporation
Boston Scientific is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of medical equipment. It was founded in 1979 and is most known for inventing the Taxus Stent, a device that opens clogged arteries. A few years ago, it acquired, for approximately $27 billion, one its biggest competitors, Guidant. Boston Scientific brings in an annual revenue of about $7 billion.

Medtronic, Inc.
By far the biggest developer and manufacturer of medical equipment, Medtronic is listed as a Fortune 500 company, with an annual revenue of about $12 billion. It was founded in Minneapolis, where it is still based, in 1949 in a garage where founders Earl Bakken and Palmer Hermundsile repaired medical equipment. Bakken went on to develop the first wearable pacemaker.