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.

Alinea Pharmaceuticals was founded recently around three in-licensed development programs, encompassing a Phase II-ready molecule to treat diabetic complications, a set of leads against a novel serum glucose-regulating target of significant interest to Big Pharma, and a research program around novel methods for lipid control.

In Vivo briefly summarizes the technologies of these recently founded companies: Alinea Pharmaceuticals, Neuronascent, Satori Pharmaceuticals, Stokes Bio, Tigris Pharmaceuticals and Triage Wireless.