Cohera Medical CEO named AdvaMed Accel chair; Trovagene sacks CEO and CFO over precision medicine dispute; OraSure Technologies appoints Eamonn Hobbs to board; DNA Diagnostics Center names its president and CEO; Lantheus Holdings taps CFO; Omcron gets new president and CEO.

The prospective medical device tax, the continuing decline of venture investing, pricing challenges, austerity measures in Europe, and other headwinds continued to push against the medtech industry in 2012. But emerging clinical and geographic markets, along with an active M&A market, are providing the industry with some momentum going into 2013.

Diagnostics industry trends include the increasing adoption of genomics in clinical testing and with it a focus on services and workflow more so than differentiated technology; a slowdown in M&A activity, partly to allow the digestion of assets acquired in 2010-11; and the ongoing uncertainties of regulation and reimbursement of high-value molecular tests.

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.