In 2006, the number of late-stage private equity deals in the medical device sector is up significantly from 2005. At the IN3 East medtech conference in October, a lively panel of venture capital investors from Galen Partners, 3i, Matignon Technologies and OrbiMed Advisors discussed why this is so, and the risks, benefits and models for late-stage investing.

Cardiac stem cell therapy for regenerating diseased heart tissue has been long on promise but short on delivery. A Belgian incubator and start-up hope to finally bring this treatment to market.

The recent FDA approval of The Pfizer/Eyetech drug Macugen, which is expected to yield $350 million in its first year on the market, has focused attention on the opportunity in age-related macular degeneration. But AMD isn't only a pharmaceutical opportunity. AMD is a disease of the retina, in the back of the eye, and that presents delivery problems that devices can solve. Device companies are developing drug delivery implants, device therapies, borrowed from the cardiovascular industry, and new photodynamic therapies that aim to rival Visudyne, QLT's laser-activated drug for wet AMD.

Drug-eluting stents (DES), now approved in the US, will be the first blockbuster combination drug/device product to hit the market. First generation DES products use a stent design that remains basically unchanged from bare metal stents, bascially adding thin layers of drug and polymer coatings. Conor Medsystems is developing a stent that is specifically designed as a drug delivery vehicle, while still embodying the attributes required of a standard stent. Conor's stent is based on work done by an engineer with no expereince in the medical products industry, based on technology developed in other areas, bringing a fresh look to the future of combining drugs and stents that may extend to therapeutic applications beyond treating only cardiovascular disease.