Emergent reveals acquisition of GSK's anthrax therapy raxibacumab days after a vaccine deal with Sanofi. Telix licenses PSMA antibodies from Abzena, while PeptiDream and Kleo sign an immuno-oncology pact.

Verizon announces commercial availability of its remote patient monitoring platform. Startup Kinematix raises money. Editorials in academic journals address electronic health applications.

The paradigmatic hospital supply company of the 1980s was American Hospital Supply Corp., which was able to leverage strong relationships with customers and an efficient distribution system into a dominant position in the medical/surgical market. But for companies who tried to emulate AHSC, the leap from manufacturer to distributor proved difficult to make; moreover, customers themselves were willing to grant favored status to only a few such suppliers. In the 1990s, a new model of successful hospital supplier emerged: supplier as dealmaker, with an implicit faith in the value of technology and capable of putting together broad platforms. And in its own way, Tyco has helped to shape that model.

While Kimberly-Clark's acquisition of Ballard Medical Products doesn't have the seismic impact of Medtronic's acquisition of Arterial Vascular Engineering, it's still a big deal--nearly three-quarters of a billion dollars in size. More importantly, it represents the kind of deal-making that is relevant to most hospital supply and device companies.