Emerging IVD Companies
Innovation helping to personalize medicine
While the debate over healthcare reform continues to rage in the halls of Congress, IVD companies are working to maximize state-of-the-art care and thus help control costs. On the science side, researchers, physicians, and pharmaceutical companies are able to develop new methods and new drugs that are proving effective for treating a growing number of diseases including cancer, which is the second leading cause of death in the United States. While the pressure is on to control costs at all...
GE Acquires Clarient: In vivo meets in vitro
GE Healthcare purchased Clarient Inc. (Aliso Viejo, CA) late last year. The acquisition was announced in October; U.S. regulators approved the transaction the following month.  GE, a well-known player in diagnostic imaging, is looking to lengthen its reach into molecular diagnostics (MDx), particularly in the oncology realm. With its acquisition of Clarient, it gains the potential for playing a large, comprehensive role in diagnosing and treating cancer. “Clarient is a clear leader...
VC funds: Some good news for biotech
Life sciences had a solid third quarter of 2009 in venture capital (VC) investment relative to other industry sectors. A late-October report by PriceWaterhouseCoopers indicates that the biotech industry received the highest level of funding for all industries in the quarter with $905 million going into 104 deals. (The report includes private, emerging companies only.) This level of investment reflects a 4% decrease in dollars but a 16% increase in deals compared to the previous quarter, when...
Innovation in tough times
    EMERGING IVD COMPANIES       Photo by iStockphoto Until recently, most people believed the healthcare industry would remain impervious to the ebbs and flows of the U.S. economy. However, 2008 saw an amazing number of layoffs in the pharmaceutical industry and more hospitals struggling to keep their doors open. Healthcare reform once seemed like an option, a decision that would or would not be made. Now, the question is not, “Yes or no to...
Blazing new trails
          Illustration by iStockphoto When the idea of personalized medicine first came into vogue, some people thought it would always remain the child of big pharma. However, forward-thinking scientists realize that a solid diagnosis is the foundation of foolproof therapeutics, and the result would be more individuals getting the right treatment the first time. Today, everyone knows personalized medicine means tremendous opportunities for the IVD market...
Breaking new ground
          Illustration by iStockphoto Nothing ever stays the same, and that is certainly true in the rapidly evolving IVD industry. Emerging diagnostic technologies offer the ability to conduct tests in more locations, using new—and even multiple—markers, and detect more diseases than ever before. Small to medium-sized IVD companies are often on the forefront of developing such emerging technologies. Being a small to medium-sized company has...
Cultivating a competitive landscape?
    Originally Published IVD Technology July/August 2002 EDITOR'S PAGE   Even in the best of economic times, small medical device and diagnostic companies that are seeking investment capital can face a pretty rough road. But when both private and public-market investors are jittery—as they have been for the past year—the road ahead for such companies can easily begin to look more like a jungle trail. Responding to such circumstances, many small companies are...