Outsourcing is not just for mundane pharma services anymore. Increasingly, drugmakers are contracting for specialized R&D assistance they expect to provide strategic as well as tactical advantages.

DOTW looks at Astellas’ oncology ambitions plus its recent split with partner Ambit, as well as analysis of Shire’s buyout of Premacure, AbbVie’s out-license of an anti-interleukin-13 antibody to Receptos and the Merck/Luminex collaboration on a companion diagnostic for Alzheimer’s disease.

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 Elsevier's Strategic Transactions, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

Start-Up's monthly comprehensive review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding during the month, including companies in the pharmaceutical, medical device, diagnostic and research instrumentation and reagent sectors.