VCs won't go near traditional diagnostics. But some are starting to bet on biomarkers that expedite drug R&D and commercialization. Only one problem: they've yet to come up with the right business model

Sitka aims to help young companies realize their potential through offering both advice and early-stage finance. It's latest fund focuses on continental Europe.

Quest Diagnostics' purchase of American Medical Laboratories for $500 million in cash (including assumption of $160 million in debt) is one of a string of acquisitions made by large national laboratories in recent years. While it is by no means Quest's biggest or most strategically critical deal, it gives the nation's largest clinical laboratory a presence in two markets in which it was weak or had no presence, and shores up its rapidly growing esoteric testing business. The deal also eliminates a competitor.

Various government agencies are proposing greater government oversight of genetic testing, with the most controversial recommendation asking the FDA to regulate "home brews," the tests that clinical labs develop in-house for clinical purposes. As implementation plans are hashed out slowly, IVD kit makers and clinical labs see both opportunities and hurdles. Hospital labs are concerned about being overburdened by the new rules, while iVD makers worry that reform would give labs an unfair advantage.