In a partial buy-out by new private equity investor Madison Dearborn Partners, Ikaria is refocused on building out its critical care product portfolio, while a new R&D spin-out may take a route to the public markets. Existing investors have already done nicely through a series of dividends.

Ikaria, a US-based biotherapeutic company, is hoping to raise $200 million through an IPO. It intends to list on Nasdaq.

Highlights from the Q3 2009 review of start-up dealmaking: Fundraising in the biopharma, medical device, and in vitro diagnostics industries totaled $520 million, a 40% decrease from the previous quarter and a 45% drop from Q3 2008. Of the total money raised in the current quarter, 64% or $333 million went to the biopharma companies. Compared with Q2 2009, device fundraising decreased by 76% (from $465 million to $113 million) but diagnostics companies raised significantly more--going from $23 million to $74 million. In contrast to the previous quarter, which saw only one acquisition, in Q3 2009 there were four involving start-ups, all of which are focusing on neurological disorders. On the alliance front, three companies--Oscient, NovaMed, and Ikaria Holdings--signed two deals each this quarter.

Ikaria has acquired the global licence to Fibrex Medical's portfolio of investigational compounds, including the fibrin-derived peptides FX06, FX201 and FX107.