Prosonix receives an extra $9 million for its Series B round as it changes business strategy from contract research to the development of generic respiratory products, based on a novel particle-engineering technology for inhaled powders.

In this issue, we present another installment of our quarterly review of dealmaking-for October-December 2003. Our data comes from Windhover's Strategic Transactions Database, which covers deal activity within the pharmaceutical/biotechnology, medical device, and in vitro diagnostics industries.

A new force of organizing care has begun to emerge designed specifically to restore to physicians the power and influence they've seen drain away. They're called physician practice management (PPM) companies, and they may be the hottest trend in health care. Recently, they've been among Wall St.'s favorite investments over the last couple of years. And they're beginning to attract doctors in large numbers.

Pfizer's economic figuring goes something like this: an internally discovered drug, or one licensed for relatively little money at an early stage of development, can nonetheless be considerably less profitable than one in-licensed when it is nearly ready for NDA filing, even if the drug costs a small fortune in cash and quids.