The Medtech Big 100 is bigger than ever
Medical Design & Outsourcing’s Medtech Big 100 is the authoritative ranking of the world’s largest medical device companies, and after many months of work we proudly present you with our 2026 edition.
Total revenue has broken the half-trillion-dollar mark for the first time as R&D spending and total employment grew from last year. But before you dive into our Medtech Big 100 rankings and industry analysis, I want to explain why this project is so special and worth the months our team spends every year compiling and crunching data.
For more than a decade, the Medtech Big 100 list has definitively ranked the top medical device developers and manufacturers. Our team procures data from public filings and our sources within the industry, and then reaches out to every single company to confirm our facts and figures.
Beyond the revenue rankings, we rank companies by R&D spend and employment in this issue and last year started publishing a supplemental R&D-focused special report with more details, which you can download here for free.
Other rankings include a fraction of the 100 device businesses we include, or include revenue from pharmaceutical sales and other business segments beyond medical devices. But we invest the extra time and effort to make sure our Medtech Big 100 ranking meets the needs of our readers.
For medical device professionals at OEMs, the Medtech Big 100 grants bragging rights and helps identify competitive trends and opportunities for innovation and career-building. For device pros at contract manufacturers, suppliers and other external vendors, the Medtech Big 100 can identify new partners and offer a window into the OEM world to better understand their needs and trajectories.
The Medtech Big 100 also recognizes leaders in R&D, the lifeblood of our industry. For many medtech pros, R&D is the most challenging, exciting and rewarding stage of the medical device lifecycle except for seeing commercialized products actually making a difference for patients in the real world.
This project would not be possible without the help of the companies on this list (and those who missed the cut this time around), our sponsors and the entire MDO team. That includes Senior Editor Sean Whooley, whose invaluable work on this year’s project will be his last as he pursues a new opportunity abroad.
To learn more about the Medtech Big 100, please join our team for a live webinar on Sept. 24 or watch the replay when it’s available on-demand.
As always, I hope you enjoy this edition of Medical Design & Outsourcing — and thanks for reading.
– Jim Hammerand, Managing Editor
Medical Design & Outsourcing
[email protected]
