Wright Medical hasn’t enjoyed the smoothest ride over the past 15 years, a stretch that included a spin-out, debt problems, and a buyout, as well as an IPO. All the while, though, the company has proven to be an innovator in the large joints industries and now—under new CEO Gary Henley—it is establishing itself as a force in the extremities and biomaterials markets.

Brief summaries of recent product and company developments in the device industry, including a rift in the orthopedics industry following the DOJ settlement, new OTC aesthetics devices, and MannKind's prospects for partnering its inhaled insulin.

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

For years, investors from private equity firm Warburg Pincus and venture capital firm The Vertical Group contemplated the notion of building an orthopedics business in extremities, a subsegment the big orthopedics players had all but ignored. Now in French orthopedics company, Tornier, they believe they've found the perfect platform. The question is: can they strike gold in an area no one else has been able to mine?