Derived from Strategic Transactions, Informa’s premium source for tracking life sciences deal activity, the Dealmaking column is a survey of recent health care transactions listed by relevant industry segment – In Vitro Diagnostics, Medical Devices, and Pharmaceuticals – and then categorized by type – Acquisition, Alliance, or Financing. This month’s column covers deals announced in January 2017

PwC anticipates a streamlining of the FDA approval process could address asset scarcity. AbbVie begins 2017 with three modest-sized deals, while PharmAthene and Altimmune join forces in a reverse-merger.

Moleculera Labs Inc. was founded on the theory that sometimes when psychiatric symptoms appear suddenly in a young person and do not respond well to neuropsychiatric drugs, it could be that an infection has sparked an autoimmune attack on the brain and has triggered PANS or PANDAS. The start-up has developed a diagnostic test to determine if an underlying autoimmune problem is at the heart of the neuropsychiatric symptoms.

Groundbreaking new mapping technologies could shift the future direction of the $2.5 billion AF ablation market, as evidenced by presentations at this year’s HRS and EUROPACE meetings; with some compelling clinical data now on the books, the electrophysiologists who perform AF ablation are taking notice, as are investors and strategics operating in this space. Emerging companies at the heart of this shift include Topera Medical, CardioInsight Technologies, and Acutus Medical.