BioMed X teams with J&J on inflammation, drug delivery research. Stem cell firm Calidi inks licensing deals with U. of Chicago, City of Hope and Northwestern. MD Anderson teams with Blueprint and Hummingbird.

AtriCure Inc. has closed a $300m structured deal to acquire SentreHEART Inc., a privately held developer of percutaneous left atrial appendage management solutions.

Hindsight 20/20 is a Q&A feature where medtech industry veterans share their long experience taking diverse businesses – be they start-ups or publicly-listed entities – from strength to strength and navigating through times of crises. In this installment, Jon H. Hoem, whose career in the cardiology sector spans more than two decades, explains how his thinking on building a robust clinical strategy has changed; why he believes you should never skimp on hiring talent; and advises on the difficult patches start-ups might hit and how to navigate around them, among other topics.

Founded and led by serial entrepreneur Amr Salahieh, Apama Medical is developing a system that aims to combine the advantages of two approaches for treating atrial fibrillation: point-by-point radiofrequency-based ablation and cryoballoon ablation.