After a bit of a slow down in the last quarter of 2012, the first quarter of 2013 is off to a better start for financing deals in the life sciences industries, according to data that CB Insights (New York) shared with Medical Device Daily this week. The firm noted nearly $300 million of deals across the life sciences, about half of which involved companies from the drug delivery, device, diagnostics, and medical facilities and services sectors.

The FDA has cleared a new device from Ethicon Endo-Surgery (Cincinnati), which the company says is the first articulating advanced energy device designed to allow surgeons to take a perpendicular approach to seal vessels up to 7 mm in diameter and lymphatics through a 5 mm port. Vessels sealed perpendicularly are stronger than those sealed at oblique angles, Ethicon noted, and stronger sealing helps reduce the likelihood of internal bleeding and post-surgery complications.

The problem of peripheral in-stent restenosis (ISR) remains a major problem for clinicians and there is currently no FDA-cleared or approved device to treat this growing patient population. There are several companies that make atherectomy devices but one company in particular, Spectranetics (Colorado Springs, Colorado), appears to be at the head of the line in terms of building out evidence to support the use of its laser atherectomy catheter to address this problem.

Midwest healthcare companies attracted $966 million in new investments across 182 companies in 2012 according to the latest report from BioEnterprise (Cleveland). The firm's annual Midwest Healthcare Venture Investment Report notes that the total dollars attracted is up by 23% from 2011.

Covidien (Dublin, Ireland) reported the completion of enrollment in its DEFINITIVE AR (anti-restenosis) study. As the third study in the DEFINITIVE trial series, this randomized pilot is designed to address the challenge of preventing restenosis, the re-narrowing of a blood vessel following treatment, a common occurrence in patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD).

CEOs from med-tech companies of all sizes stepped up to the podium Monday at J.P. Morgan's 31st annual healthcare conference to share with the investor community what their growth strategies are for the near and long term. Companies presenting today included Medtronic (Minneapolis), Covidien (Dublin, Ireland), and Endologix (Irvine, California).