At $1.2 billion, Q4 device financing was the second-lowest quarter of 2015; M&A dollar volume was also low, but included multiple deals across various cardiovascular markets. Diagnostics financing was also down in Q4, totaling $403 million; acquisitions were worth $441 million.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Venture Funding Deals column provides a comprehensive monthly review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding, including companies within the In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals sectors. This month’s column covers deals announced September through October 2015.

Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Medical Device Deals Update column is a survey of recent medtech M&A, alliance, and financing activity. This month’s column covers deals announced September-October 2015.

Bristol will team with start-up financier Allied Minds to convert academic research into clinical candidates, with the pharma getting a license to acquire any backed entity that reaches preclinical stage. Two European firms, Boehringer Ingelheim and Medivir, partner again roughly a decade after a disappointing tie-up in HIV.