A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, The Double-edged Sword of Diabetes Drug Development, features profiles of Alba Therapeutics, Alinea, DiaKine and Diabetica. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Actimis, Luminous Medical, NABsys and Pathfinder Therapeutics.

Intense interest in new diabetes drugs gives start-ups many choices for technology development or in-licensing, but recent regulatory caution also increases risk.

In contrast to a host of companies pursuing GLP-1 pathway in diabetes, Diabetica is pioneering GIP research. Because there is currently no marketed antagonist to make insulin work better in the body, as Diabetica believes its GIP agonist will, the company hopes that, at the end of the day, it won't be competing with other compounds at all.