As part of its plans to spin off its healthcare division into a separate company, GE reportedly submitted the paperwork Dec. 19 for an initial public offering (IPO) of the standalone company. Inside sources familiar with the situation told Bloomberg that the public filing will likely happen in spring 2019. Numerous sources reported that the news caused a significant jump in the parent company’s stock price.

Merit Medical Systems Inc. announced that it has acquired substantially all of the assets of Vascular Insights LLC, based in Quincy, Mass. Vascular Insights’ primary assets are the ClariVein IC and ClariVein OC specialty infusion and occlusion catheter systems, which have been utilized in more than 120,000 cases to treat superficial venous disease, particularly below the knee (BTK), and venous leg ulcers (VLU). The ClariVein systems address a $700 million global market. The ClariVein IC system has 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the ClariVein OC system is CE-marked, and the systems are covered by 43 patents issued worldwide.

Among otherwise healthy people, a daily dose of aspirin does not save lives and causes additional bleeding, a new analysis has found. The meta-analysis of 11 aspirin therapy clinical trials involving more than 157,000 healthy individuals since the 1980s found the drug does not reduce deaths, heart attacks and strokes. Low-dose aspirin users were also about 50 percent more likely to have major bleeding compared with those who did not use aspirin, the researchers concluded. The findings were published Dec. 17 in the European Heart Journal.

Digital health company Analytics 4 Life and Actelion Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced a collaborative agreement to investigate the use of Analytics 4 Life’s diagnostic imaging technology in pulmonary hypertension. The first 500-person clinical study has been initiated for this serious, life-threatening condition affecting millions of people worldwide.