Ranbaxy is back in the news for GMP violations at its Dewas unit in India. Based on an inspection in June, this time Germany’s drug regulator has raised the red flag, citing deficiencies in design and clean room operations, among others. For its part, Ranbaxy clarified that it had decided to discontinue making injectable cephalosporins well before the joint inspection and that all its other facilities were cleared post the inspection.

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 Windhover's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

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 Windhover's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

An analysis of a group of Big Pharma and big biotech spin-outs, which tend to raise more private money than their build-from-scratch bretheren, shows that while these firms are certainly heftier--and often considered better equiped to succeed in the public markets--their pre-money step-ups are in the end, nothing special.