In assessing the sixteen biotechs making their public debuts over the past six months, investors clearly favor companies specializing in development, not discovery. What's more, investors especially prefer those development firms with late-stage products, lots of cash, and possibly even a sizable out-licensing deal.

In Vivo presents another installment of our quarterly reivew of dealmaking--in this case July-September 2003. Our data come from Windhover's Strategic Transactions Database. We include medical device financings by deal type; diagnostic financings by industry segment; pharma and biotech alliances by therapeutic category and industry segment; pharma and biotech financings by market segment, and pharma and biotech M&A.

Anyone looking at investing in diagnostics would do well to consider the cautionary, still-evolving tale of Cepheid as an indication of the complexities inherent in building a new diagnostic enterprise. Cepheid has more going for it than most diagnostic start-ups, including steady revenues from innovative products and an experienced management team with a proven track-record at deal-making. But it faces continual funding issues and a longer-than-expected time frame to profitability.

Roche's $1.4 billion acquisition of Igen left Igen shareholders gleeful and some Roche observers a bit wary of the high price tag. But by ending protracted litigation between the two companies, the deal protects one of Roche Diagnostics' core franchises, the central laboratory business.