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.

The dealmaking column is a survey of recent transactions, including strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions, and financings, in the life sciences industries. Deals are listed by the following industry sectors: in vitro diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents. All transactions are excerpted from Windhover's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

Zelos Therapeutics is developing a next-generation analog of parathyroid hormone for the treatment of osteoporosis and other indications.

Several relatively new companies are making inroads into a new market for bypass assurance with devices that help cardiovascular surgeons intra-operatively assess the patency of each anastomosis. Cardiovascular surgeons historically have been resistant to adjunctive surgical innovations designed to help them do their jobs better. These companies, however, are betting that the difficulty posed by new beating heart coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) procedures will motivate surgeons to slowly but steadily adopt their minimally invasive tools.