Right now it's better to be a smaller, well-capitalized spine company with a broad product line than a larger spine company, according to one analyst who covers the space. (Medical Device Daily)

InfraReDx (Burlington, Massachusetts), a company developing cardiovascular diagnostic imaging technologies, said it has received FDA 510(k) clearance to market its LipiScan IVUS coronary imaging system. (Medical Device Daily)

Patients who suffer from corneal disease but have no access to a donor for transplant might benefit from a new biosynthetic cornea transplant, according to Eyegenix, a division of Cellular Bioengineering (CBI; Honolulu). (Medical Device Daily)

EndoGastric Solutions (Redwood City, California), a player in the emerging field of natural orifice surgery (NOS), said that Canaan Partners and Radius Ventures co-led a $30 million Series F financing designed to support the company through profitability. (Medical Device Daily)

Biomagnetics Diagnostics (San Francisco) has entered into a patent license agreement with Los Alamos National Security for access to its IOBS technology. (Medical Device Daily)

Novartis (Basel, Switzerland) and Nestlé (Vevey, Switzerland) say they have completed the purchase and sale of nearly 156 million shares of Alcon (Huenenberg, Switzerland) for $28.3 billion in cash. (Medical Device Daily)

The cardiovascular device sector should expect to see M&A activity to be more robust in the next couple of years than it has been in the last 20 to 30 years, according to one analyst who covers this space. (Medical Device Daily)

Heart failure patients suffering from functional mitral regurgitation (FMR) often have limited treatment options, but one early stage company is trying to change that with a non-surgical intervention performed in the cath lab that is intended to reduce mitral regurgitation.(Medical Device Daily)

The availability of gender-specific knee implants has been a much-debated topic in orthopedic circles since Zimmer (Warsaw, Indiana) first reported in 2006 its intention to sell a knee replacement system designed specifically for women. Now, a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery suggests the gender-specific implants are not any better, clinically speaking, than a standard prosthesis. (Medical Device Daily)