Alcon AG reported on Dec. 9 that it had sweetened its offer for intraocular lens maker Staar Surgical Co., raising its offer by roughly 10% to $30.75 a share from its prior bid of $28 a share. The revised offer comes on the heels of the expiration of Staar’s go-shop period on Dec. 8, in which Lake Forest, Calif.-based Staar said no superior offers were received.
Teleflex Inc. reported plans to sell its Acute Care, Interventional Urology and OEM businesses to two buyers for $2.03 billion. Intersurgical Ltd. will acquire the Acute Care and Interventional Urology units for $530 million. Additionally, private equity firms Montagu and Kohlberg are buying its OEM contract manufacturing business for $1.5 billion.
A U.S. FDA advisory panel voted unanimously against approving Johnson & Johnson’s V-Wave Ventura shunt for heart failure patients not helped by medications. The circulatory panel voted emphatically 15-0 against use of the shunt for heart failure patients not helped by medications based on effectiveness and its benefit-risk profile. On the question of safety, the panelists did vote 9-6 in favor of the device.
Freenome Holdings Inc. reported it is going public via a special purpose acquisition company. The company said it expects to raise $330 million, which it plans to use for the 2026 launch of its blood-based screening tests for multiple cancers. Backed by an affiliate of Perceptive Advisors - Perceptive Capital Solutions Corp. (PCSP) – and joined by RA Capital, the arrangement includes a commitment of $240 million in equity investments plus about $90 million more held by the SPAC’s trust fund. Other notable investors, including ADAR1 Capital, Bain Capital Life Sciences, and Farallon Capital Management have signed on to participate in the deal.
Brainomix Ltd. reported the publication of a prospective real-world study demonstrating that its AI imaging platform, Brainomix 360 Stroke, significantly increased rates of endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) treatment, a minimally invasive surgical procedure for patients with large vessel occlusion stroke, and reduced delays in patient triage and transfer.
Prognomiq Inc. reported the launch of its Provue Lung, a novel blood-based laboratory developed test designed to help improve detection of lung cancer at its earliest, most treatable stages.
Abbott Laboratories made plans to enter the cancer screening market with its reported acquisition of Exact Sciences Corp. The deal will pay Exact Sciences shareholders $105 per share in cash, a nearly 50% premium to Exact’s unaffected share price on Nov. 19. That represents a total equity value of approximately $21 billion and an estimated enterprise value of $23 billion.
Alcon AG reported its financial results for the three- and nine-month periods ending Sept. 30, 2025. For the third quarter of 2025, sales were $2.6 billion, up 6% on a reported basis and up 5% on a constant currency basis, as compared to the same quarter of the previous year.
Magstim Co. Ltd. reported that the U.S. FDA cleared its Magstim Rapid magnetic stimulation system for the treatment of chronic pain. The clearance provides a clinically validated therapy that directly targets neural pathways involved in pain processing to deliver a non-invasive, drug-free treatment for chronic pain.
Medical Microinstruments Inc., reported the U.S. FDA approval of an investigational device exemption for a study using its Symani surgical system for treating Alzheimer’s disease, one of its earliest forays into the brain.
