Saluggia, Italy-based, Diasorin S.p.A. said it will acquire Focus Diagnostics Inc.'s immunodiagnostic and molecular diagnostic products for $300 million in cash from Madison, N.J.-based, Quest Diagnostics Inc.

Everyone has heard about the FDA advisory hearing for the Absorb scaffold by Abbott Vascular, but to recap, one of the issues that came up in connection with the trial data for the Absorb was the association between coronary artery vessel size and adverse events such as thrombosis. There was some question of whether intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) would be useful in cutting down on such events, maybe not a bad idea in principal given that the Absorb's struts are much thicker than those found in conventional device struts. But that was just the beginning of the IVUS conversation. Several days...