The German firm is buying Frame Cancer Therapeutics in a deal valued at €32m, with CEO Franz-Werner Haas claiming that it will help the firm in its search for promising neoantigens for its mRNA cancer vaccine programs.

Investors are betting on mitral valves as the next "big thing" in cardiology as interest in technologies to treat mitral regurgitation heat up among the big heart players. Competition among the developers of transcatheter mitral valve repair systems is intensifying as they jostle for attention, but start-up Kephalios believes the simplicity of its technology, which precisely targets repair of the defective valve, will help it stand out.

Device companies raised a total of $801 million in 2012’s third quarter, an 18% drop from Q2’s $977 million. Approximately $2.6 billion was spent on device acquisitions, exactly $2 billion less than Q2’s total. Diagnostic/research company financings totaled $484 million during Q3 2012, up from last quarter’s $336 million. And while diagnostic/research M&A activity was not as prolific as last quarter, tech transfer deals are seeing a resurgence.

In the third quarter of 2012, start-up companies raised a total of $682 million across all industries, roughly 19% more than in the previous quarter. Of that money, 65% went to biopharmas. Several large molecule-focused companies inked deals during Q3. Four start-ups were acquired – three biopharmas and one medical device company.