The capital drought that hit life science companies the past three years worked its way upstream in 2011, as several venture firms said they wouldn’t either continue in the life sciences or raise new funds. But our annual tally of life science Series A rounds presents a surprising twist: Series A rounds are up, not in blockbuster numbers by any stretch, but the downward trend of the recession years has finally been reversed. Among the year's nearly 100 Series A rounds we found plenty of oncology and peripheral vascular disease start-ups, as well as big bets on rare disease, along with some considerable nods to emerging markets.

According to "US Markets for Peripheral Vascular Stents," a report recently published by the Medtech Insight division of Elsevier Business Intelligence, the peripheral vascular stent market yielded more than $1 billion in revenues in the US in 2009, and will continue to grow at an overall rate of 7.2% in coming years, with some product segments growing even faster. Stents for carotid arteries are expected to yield a 36.5% annual compound growth rate through 2014 and endovascular products for the repair of aortic aneurysms (AAA) will grow by 8.4%, according to the Medtech Insight report. AAA endografts accounted for 43.7% of peripheral vascular stent sales last year.

According to "US Markets for Peripheral Vascular Stents," a report recently published by the Medtech Insight division of Elsevier Business Intelligence, the peripheral vascular stent market yielded more than $1 billion in revenues in the US in 2009, and will continue to grow at an overall rate of 7.2% in coming years, with some product segments growing even faster. Stents for carotid arteries are expected to yield a 36.5% annual compound growth rate through 2014 and endovascular products for the repair of aortic aneurysms (AAA) will grow by 8.4%, according to the Medtech Insight report. AAA endografts accounted for 43.7% of peripheral vascular stent sales last year.