Australia’s New South Wales awarded grants totaling AU$10.3 million as part of a campaign to spur innovation among medical device companies. Chosen from 147 applicants, the grant recipients are Elastagen Pty. Ltd., Endoluminal Sciences Pty. Ltd., HEARworks Pty Ltd., mobiLIFE Pty. Ltd. and Saluda Medical.

Robinson steps up to drug production; no warning needed for St. John’s wort, CRN says; Iovate settles with Calif. counties; more In Brief

Brief profiles of these recently formed companies: 2C Tech Corp., Atherolysis Medical, Axena Technologies and Prevention Pharmaceuticals.

Highlights from the Q2 2010 review of pharmaceutical and biotechnology dealmaking: Biopharma companies raised a total of $3.4bn through 96 financings. Twenty-one acquisitions together reached $20.2bn, thanks to five deals each exceeding $3 billion - in aggregate accounting for 91% of the M&A total. The alliance volume was up to 115 transactions for a total of $2.8 billion in pre-commercialization money, with seven deals surpassing the $100 million mark.