• CancerGuide Diagnostics (Durham, North Carolina) has entered into a research collaboration and licensing agreement with Duke University (also Durham) to discover and develop tests to support individualized cancer treatment decisions. This relationship provides CancerGuide with exclusive commercial rights to a portfolio of molecular signatures that predict response for targeted therapeutics as well as collaborative access to clinical research and new molecular discoveries from Duke. CancerGuide will use these technologies with its pharmaceutical clients to improve the efficiency of the drug development process and to develop and commercialize novel clinical diagnostics through its existing agreement with Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings (LabCorp; Burlington, North Carolina).

• CareFusion (San Diego), a 2009 spinoff of Cardinal Health (Dublin, Ohio), has agreed to acquire Medegen (Ontario, California), a developer of needleless access valves and administration sets that deliver intravenous (IV) medication to patients, for $225 million in cash.

• ev3 (Plymouth, Minnesota) has initiated a supply agreement with Medrad Interventional/Possis (Warrendale, Pennsylvania). Under terms of the agreement, Medrad will make available its Cotavance peripheral drug-eluting balloon angioplasty catheter with Paccocath technology for study in combination with ev3's SilverHawk and TurboHawk Plaque Excision Systems for use in the DEFINITIVE AR European pilot study for treating lower extremity peripheral arterial disease (PAD). The DEFINITIVE AR (Anti-Restenosis) study is a prospective, multicenter, randomized pilot study evaluating the use of either the TurboHawk or SilverHawk Plaque Excision System followed by treatment with the Cotavance drug-eluting balloon catheter vs. the Cotavance balloon catheter alone in patients with peripheral arterial disease.

• Given Imaging (Yoqneam, Israel) said it has completed its acquisition of privately-held Sierra Scientific Instruments (Los Angeles, California) for $35 million in cash. As a result, Sierra Scientific is now a subsidiary of Given Imaging. The company acquired Sierra Scientific from Water Street Healthcare Partners, a private equity firm focused on healthcare. According to Given Imaging, Sierra Scientific is recognized for its ManoScan family of products. Additionally, Sierra offers a line of reflux monitoring solutions (AccuTrac and Digitrapper), as well as its Polygraf ID stationary gastrointestinal function testing platform.

• Haemonetics (Braintree, Massachusetts) reported that it plans to complete its tender offer to acquire Global Med Technologies (Denver). At the closure of the tender period 34.4 million shares of common stock representing 90% of the outstanding common stock and 100% of the outstanding preferred shares were tendered. Haemonetics funded the $58 million required for the acquisition of the shares and outstanding warrants from available cash. Haemonetics anticipates completing the merger with Global Med in 1Q11 with a final cash payment of $3 million.

• Iridex (Mountain View, California) said it has acquired substantially all of the assets from RetinaLabs (Atlanta), a company that makes retinal instrumentation used by opthalmologists to perform vitreoretinal procedures in the operating room and the surgery center. The assets Iridex acquired includes RetinaLabs' existing product family together with certain additional intellectual property that Iridex anticipates incorporating into future products, the company said. The purchase price consisted of $250,000 in cash and 115,000 unregistered shares of Iridex common stock issued at closing, and an earn-out tied to future revenues that could result in additional cash and share payment to RetinaLabs based on the future performance of the acquired products. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

• NeuroTherm (Wilmington, Massachusetts) said it has acquired the Smith & Nephew (S&N; London) Interventional Spine Pain Management assets from S&N's subsidiaries. The acquired product line includes several interventional spine pain products including the CDS Discography System, Spinecath & Acutherm catheters and a full radio frequency product line, the company noted. NeuroTherm said it will also be the distributor of the Trucath Injection System within the interventional spine pain market.

• Trintech Group (Addison, Texas) said it has completed the sale of its healthcare division, Concuity (Vernon Hills, Illinois), to The Advisory Board Company (Washington) for $34.5 million in cash. The purchase price is subject to a working capital adjustment, and an escrow amount of $6 million has been set aside with $2 million to be released after 9 months and the remainder no later than Dec. 31, 2011, subject to the satisfaction of post-closing conditions.

• U.S. Renal Care (USRC; Plano, Texas) a privately-held provider of outpatient dialysis services, and Dialysis Corporation of America (DCA; Lithicum, Maryland), a provider of outpatient kidney dialysis centers, said that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement for USRC to acquire DCA for $112 million. Upon the closing of the transaction, USRC will provide dialysis services to a base of nearly 5,500 patients through 84 outpatient dialysis facilities across nine states, more than 12 home dialysis programs, and 24 dialysis programs within acute and specialty hospital facilities.