Amidst low growth and a potential rebound in the $9 billion global spine market, the pure-play spine companies, including NuVasive, Globus, K2M and LDR, continue to outperform and grab share from the diversified giants. Medtech Insight founder and former CEO Sharon O'Reilly reports on these companies and more from the 2015 North American Spine Society (NASS) conference in Chicago, where the latest news centered around ancillary approaches to fusion, patient-specific tools, robotics, biologics, expandable cages, MIS and cervical discs.

In Q4 2014 start-ups raised $1.5 billion, a new record. Several companies penned alliances with tech transfer entities; eight start-ups were acquired.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Medical Device Deals Update column is a survey of recent medtech M&A, alliance, and financing activity. This month’s column covers deals announced October-November 2014.