Despite the recent downturn in the national economy, Ireland's medical device community is on the verge of a major growth spurt. A lot of the credit goes to strong government support, particularly in the form of Enterprise Ireland, which serves as a major investor in medtech start-ups. Even with such support, Ireland's medtech start-up community faces many of the challenges that any start-up community faces. But the sector has high hopes and great ambitions. The second of a two-part series.

Growth by innovation is almost considered a birthright in interventional cardiology, and based on presentations at this year's Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics meeting, held this September in San Francisco, it seems clear that innovation still reigns supreme in this specialty. However, as in other medical device markets, ongoing economic and regulatory pressures are taking their toll, particularly in the drug-eluting stent market, as the field adjusts to a new era of cost control and economic uncertainty.

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

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, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents. All transactions are excerpted from Windhover's Strategic Transactions Database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.