The US Veterans Administration is attracting more interest from drugmakers seeking to grow their foothold in the lucrative – but scientifically challenging – market for CNS disorders. The allure comes from VA’s strong analytics and data crunching capabilities as well as its investigatory and trial management expertise in high-profile areas like traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress and major depression.

FDA issued proposed orders to remove the 510(k) exemption and establish special controls for most blood lancets, and require PMAs for one super-risky category of the finger-prick devices. The goal is to reduce infectious disease transmission.

Stock prices for Ambit Biosciences and Emergent BioSolutions dipped after abstracts for their data presentations at the upcoming American Society of Hematologists (ASH) Annual Meeting and Exposition became public on 7 November, and GlycoMimetics postponed its initial public offering on 8 November, but all three companies have data worth watching when ASH welcomes doctors and scientists to New Orleans from 7 to 10 December.

The advanced wound care market is attracting an increasing number of competitors and investors seeking a stake in this high-need, high-growth space. But although the number of innovative wound care products is on the rise, this is also a highly diverse market, with some striking differences among various regions of the world in terms of product adoption and standard wound care practices.