Recent executive-level hires and director appointments at venture capital firms and biopharma and medtech start-ups.

START-UP's monthly comprehensive review of emerging life science companies that have received venture funding during the month, including companies within the in vitro diagnostics, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, and research/analytical equipment & supplies sectors.

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.

Early intervention is the general rule for success in treating many diseases, but in obesity, patients have to be in bad shape before they're eligible for the most efficacious treatments, which are surgical interventions. Companies with minimally invasive--and anatomy sparing--devices hope to change that paradigm.