Three years after rebranding from Concordia, Advanz Pharma is to be swallowed up by European-focused private equity Nordic Capital.

The UK’s CMA has reiterated its belief that Advanz Pharma charged excessive and unfair prices for liothyronine in the UK, following a separate ruling that provided detailed guidance on how such matters should be evaluated.

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.

The global market for robotically assisted systems (RAS) is expected to reach $5.3bn by 2021, a CAGR of 11.7%. Meddevicetracker expects this hot market, long-dominated by Intuitive Surgical's da Vinci systems, to see rising competition from innovative companies developing robotic systems that are smaller, portable and less costly and offer surgeons innovative features that allow them to perform even more precise and user-friendly, complex surgeries. In this feature, we'll take a closer look at the overall market, highlighting the competitive landscape as well as limiters and growth opportunities. We'll also take a deep dive into RAS systems and their applications. Surgeons of various specialties provide key insights about the pros and cons of different systems.