The device classification announcements include four class II devices, as well as one that was placed in class I.

Third-quarter device financing at $2.38 billion – almost half of that amount from CooperSurgical's $1.1 billion bridge loan – was double the Q2 total, while device acquisitions showed a steep decrease at $3.38 billion versus Q2's $33.4 billion. Diagnostics fundraising also was up in the third quarter, reaching $2.4 billion (a 133% increase over Q2) mostly from Thermo Fisher Scientific's $1.5 billion follow-on offering, which accounted for 63% of the total. In line with the previous quarter's $1.7 billion in M&A, Q3 diagnostics acquisitions had an aggregate value of $1.8 billion, led by Konica Minolta's $1 billion buy of Ambry Genetics.

Crunched credit wiped out many biotech firms in 2009, yet some emerged from the wreckage leaner and stronger. How did they do it, asks Dr Sukaina Virji-Jeganathan.

The repositioning of drugs for new clinical indications is becoming an increasingly prominent development strategy because it can reduce development risk as well as both the time and investment required to bring a product to market. Previously exclusive to pharmaceutical companies working to expand the applications of their marketed drugs, repositioning (also known as repurposing, reprofiling, therapeutic switching, or developing 'second use' indications) has emerged as an industry in its own right, encompassing both technology and drug companies. Today, companies involved in repositioning are charging for their services, establishing collaborative agreements and using the strategy to develop their own pipelines.