Today many universities have a mandate to preferentially create new companies around university technologies, rather than stick with straight licensing deals, particularly when it comes to medical devices. What's also new is that universities are making a concerted effort to attract in companies from beyond their hallowed gates to enhance internal research programs. To meet these goals, they're turning to new kinds of incubators, which are essentially service organizations that connect resources in the hands of multiple constituencies to start-up companies. In so doing, incubators are facilitating the process of company creation for individual entrepreneurs, enhancing university tech transfer, and fulfilling regional economic development goals.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile groups: Biocoatings, Medical Device Start-Ups in Germany, and Orphan Receptor Drug Discovery. Plus these Start-Ups across Health Care: Alteris Therapeutics Inc., Hepaticus Inc., Semafore Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp.

The successful commercialization of drug-eluting stents (DES) has done much to pave the way for the biocoating industy. DES not only helped establish a new regulatory body to facilitate device-drug reviews, the FDA Office of Combination Products, they also proved that biocoated devices could take market share from uncoated products, command premium pricing and premium reimbursement.

Allvivo, one of the newest surface modification companies, is jumping into the hottest and most financeable segment of the medical device industry with its own drug-coated coronary stent. Its biomimetic stent coating has two properties that suit it for its intended use; a polymer coating that prevents the attachment and activation of platelets, fibringoen and other coagulation enzymes at the stent surface, and an anti-inflammatory protein.