The mood was pretty somber going into Heartware’s (Framingham, Mass.) breakout session during the 34th annual J.P.Morgan Healthcare conference. But why wouldn’t it be? It’s not everyday that a med-tech CEO has to discuss halting a European trial on one of its most promising technologies. But that’s exactly what Doug Godshall, Heartware president/CEO did. Godshall, who took the leadership position of Heartware in 2006, delivered the bad news across a sea of somewhat disenchanted faces during the conference. He did a great job, but honestly, is there ever a “good way” to deliver bad news? You see, Godshall revealed...

With nearly $20 billion of net cash, the industry can expect to see "disciplined and decisive actions" from Johnson & Johnson (J&J; New Brunswick, N.J.) regarding mergers and acquisitions this year, CEO Alex Gorsky said during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call.