The overall message of three trials published recently in The New England Journal of Medicine: “This pharmacogenetic testing has either no usefulness in the initial dosing of vitamin K antagonists or, at best, marginal usefulness, given the cost and effort required to perform this testing,” according to an editorial also in NEJM.

Device companies raised a total of $801 million in 2012’s third quarter, an 18% drop from Q2’s $977 million. Approximately $2.6 billion was spent on device acquisitions, exactly $2 billion less than Q2’s total. Diagnostic/research company financings totaled $484 million during Q3 2012, up from last quarter’s $336 million. And while diagnostic/research M&A activity was not as prolific as last quarter, tech transfer deals are seeing a resurgence.

The Dealmaking column is a survey of recent transactions, including strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions, and financings, in the life sciences industries. Deals are listed by the following industry sectors: in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents. All transactions are excerpted from Elsevier's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

A roundup of recent medtech mergers & acquisitions, strategic alliances, and financings.