A snapshot of global medical device approvals captured during the past week in Medtech Insight's Approvals Tracker. This week, two spine device approvals from US FDA, and a CE mark for a new drug-eluting stent.

Medtech Insight recorded 17 merger or acquisition deals in March, a rise from the nine deals recorded last month and in the same period last year. It was a busy month for Boston Scientific, which racked up two acquisitions, paying $460m for urology device maker NxThera and an undisclosed price for endoscopy firm EMcision.

Orthofix is investing in its spine business with the acquisition of cervical disc implant-maker Spinal Kinetics.

In spite of increasing price pressure, the $9 billion global spine market is projected to see low-single-digit growth in the next few years. Driving growth are the pure-play spine companies targeting high-growth segments such as minimally invasive surgery, expandable interbody cases, cervical discs, and deformity.