Investors love to remind everyone that IPOs are financing events, not exiting events, using the mantra to put off Judgment Day for their investments. So how have device companies fared after the recent spate of IPOs?

Brief summaries of recent medtech market and industry developments. This month we cover a new GAO report that ups the pressure on the medical imaging market; Cordis Corp.'s suspension of its PFO closure device program; Atritech's PMA for stroke prevention; Zimmer's acquisition of Abbott Spine; and the US market for contraception devices and procedures.

When most industry people hear of The Carlyle Group, they think of it exclusively as a buyout group, and indeed leveraged buyouts are an important part of the global private equity firm's business. But many are surprised to learn that Carlyle has a venture and growth capital operation that maintains a strong commitment to investing in the medical device sector.

Looking back on 2007 through the lens of acquisition activity reveals a lot about the current dynamics in the medtech industry. According to Windhover's Strategic Transactions Database, many of the 80 medical devices companies that were acquired last year came from the perennially hot orthopedics and cardiovascular markets. But in 2007, buyers found their targets in clinical areas that are starting to heat up: patient monitoring, in vitro diagnostics, minimally invasive surgery, and women's health. The acquirers themselves were a mixed bag--for a change, traditional buyers didn't make up the largest share. In fact, those billion dollar plus companies were as likely to divest as to acquire in 2007.