When the ball dropped in Times Square on New Year's Eve just a little over a month ago, many companies were more than happy to bid farewell to 2009 – and the economic hardships that defined the year for so many businesses and individuals. But at least one medical device company says that very little of its business was impacted by the economic crisis and that 2009 was a continued growth year for the company. (Medical Device Daily)

According to a recent study by BDO (Chicago), an accounting and consulting organization, capital markets executives at leading investment banks are bullish on the U.S. initial public offering (IPO) market for 2010. Furthermore, those surveyed say that the technology, energy, biotech and healthcare industries will lead IPO activity this year – in that order. (Medical Device Daily)

Researchers at Moores Cancer Center at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) and colleagues have found that prostate cancer treatments varied significantly between county hospitals and private providers. (Medical Device Daily)

Med-tech giant Medtronic (Minneapolis) said Monday it will pay up to $500 million to acquire Invatec (Brescia, Italy), developer of devices for the interventional treatment of cardiovascular disease, and two affiliated companies, Fogazzi (also Brescia), which provides polymer technology to Invatec; and Krauth Cardiovascular (Hamburg, Germany), which distributes Invatec products in Germany. (Medical Device Daily)

Absorption Systems (Exton, Pennsylvania) reported the results of a study demonstrating the power of its CellPort Technologies to predict the potential for pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions. The study, published online in Drug Metabolism and Disposition examined AstraZeneca's (London) ximelagatran and its active metabolite, melagatran, both of which are actively secreted into bile. (Medical Device Daily)