A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Making Inroads in Predictive Toxicology," features profiles of Cellumen, GliaGen, Horizon Discovery and SimuGen. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Acacia Pharma, InspireMD, MicroTransponder and Quotient Diagnostics.

Cellumen's approach to predictive toxicology involves panels of cell-based assays that the company believes are more sophisticated than those previously harnessed for drug discovery. The company is assembling panels of 10 or more biomarkers that it will use for advanced profiling--looking at the early effect (within an hour) of a given compound at a given dose, then again after 24 hours and after 72 hours. Software will process all the data into a systemic read-out, elucidate mechanisms of toxicity, and determine whether a compound should be considered high, medium, or low risk as a drug candidate.

Given the current "Safety First" mind-set among regulators, it's not surprising that the field of predictive toxicology has been slow to gain traction. Despite significant progress in developing biomarkers, database tools, and other methods, pharma companies continue to rely heavily on traditional methods for assessing potential drug toxicities. Even if investors are shy now, many say that they will eventually be a beneficiary of predictive toxicology, and that comes as good news to start-ups in the space.