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

The two lipid lowerers under scrutiny at the FDA this week each use a novel strategy to reduce cholesterol levels, but what other approaches for hypercholesterolemia/dyslipidemia are in the pipeline?

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

Biopharma start-ups raised $299 million and just over half were Series A rounds. Device companies brought in $134 million, while two diagnostics firms raised $10 million total. Ophthalmology was the most popular theracat for biopharma alliances. Just one acquisition involving a start-up took place.