By nearly all calculations there was nothing exceptional regarding the number of transactions or the value of merger and acquisition (M&A) deals in the diagnostics space in 2013. Companies and investors played it safe while trying to forecast the financial impact of the industry’s two most pressing challenges—the uncertainties surrounding the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and reimbursement. For 2014, though, most industry watchers are buoyed by slight optimism, believing that as more late-stage diagnostics companies reach commercialization, buyers may be enticed by efficiency gains from newer platforms and the high growth potential of emerging clinical technologies, including molecular diagnostic-related products. A 2013 Recap The headline-grabbing announcement of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s pending $13.6 billion purchase of Life Technologies sent excitement through the industry last spring but failed to trigger a hoped for series of follow-on acquisitions. According to research from Ernst & Young and Dealogic, insecurity regarding the impact of the ACA kept the broad category of health care-related deals slightly below 2012 numbers, but by some measures deal value was up slightly for life science transactions. “Global life sciences M&A deal values hit $131.8 billion in 2013 in 203 transactions with disclosed deal values greater than or equal to $20 […]