Cornerstone gains two commercial products for the acute-care hospital setting, Cardene and Retavase, with the acquisition of EKR Therapeutics for $125 million upfront and potential milestones.

Vectura Group, a company developing inhaled therapies for the treatment of respiratory diseases, has appointed Dr Trevor Phillips president of its US operations. Dr Phillips has held a number of senior roles in the pharmaceutical industry, including serving as CEO and president of Critical Therapeutics, following six years as the company's chief operating officer. He has also worked at Sepracor, Scotia Pharmaceuticals, Accenture, Glaxo Wellcome Research and Development and Simbec Research.

In 2007, what did Series A venture investments reveal about the state of the health care industry? It was very healthy, thank you. There were quite a few deals to choose from, and numbers demonstrated continued growth in diagnostics fundraising, a resurgence in vaccines, and evidence of pharma's interest in proof-of-concept projects and large-molecule platforms. Medical device investors, meanwhile, remain enamored with concept companies seeking to blend electronics-such as neurostimulation or miniature sensors-with devices.

Summary of recent device mergers and acquisitions, alliances, and financings.