Pap Smear Industry: Lots of Money, Lots of Deals

Women's health has been a hot area for health care investors this year, and one of the most active segments of that field is automated Pap smear screening. In the past 12 months, four companies seeking to transform Pap smear screening have gone to public markets to raise money, two in initial public offerings and two in follow-on offerings; several others are doing private deals of one kind or another. The total raised in the public markets is $215 million, not bad, considering that most of the companies raised the money before they got FDA approval for their technologies.

And that doesn't include Digene Corp., which went public in May, raising $31.3 million, and which has a DNA-based test for HPV, a strong risk factor for cervical cancer. Nor...