Venture capitalists love turmoil. The more the better. And, in case you hadn’t noticed, the stent business has seen more than its share. First restenosis knocked bare-metal stent makers back on their heels. When large medical device companies counterpunched with drug-eluting stents, the return salvo was equally heavy as participants of the 2006 European Society of Cardiology meeting questioned whether those same drug-coated stents presented an even greater risk then bare-metal ones.
But VCs don’t scare easily. An examination of deals in Windhover’s Strategic Transactions Database reveals that venture capitalists’ investment in...