St. Jude Medical (St. Paul, Minnesota) continues to expand and refine its portfolio of neurostimulation offerings with FDA approval of the Penta surgical lead, the first five-column lead on the U.S. market using the smallest available electrodes. (Medical Device Daily)

First there were bare metal stents with a high risk of restenosis, repeat hospitalizations and angioplasty procedures. Drug-eluting stents (DES) followed, which overcame the re-blockage conundrum, but there was a new risk: late-stent thrombosis. OrbusNeich (Hong Kong) is building significant momentum in the development of its new approach to coronary stenting which relies on endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) capture technology that entirely changes the healing mechanism of stents. (Medical Device Daily)

In a year-end deal that will now position orthopedics giant Stryker (Kalamazoo, Michigan) as one of the largest device reprocessing firms in the U.S., the company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Ascent Healthcare Solutions (Phoenix) in an all-cash transaction valued at $525 million. (Medical Device Daily)