Patient noncompliance places a huge cost on healthcare budgets on a global level. Peter Thornton looks at new drug delivery options that could solve this costly problem, as healthcare providers come under pressure to control ever escalating costs.

The dealmaking column is a survey of recent transactions, including strategic alliances, mergers & acquisitions, and financings, in the life sciences industries. Deals are listed by the following industry sectors: in vitro diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents. All transactions are excerpted from Elsevier's Strategic Transactions database, providing comprehensive transaction coverage from 1991 to the present.

1953 was an extraordinary year for biology, an annus mirabilis, or wonder year, which offered scientific insights to rival those made by Einstein almost half a century earlier.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, "Moving beyond Accutane and Botox", includes profiles of Magen BioSciences, Neosil, Syntopix and TransDerm. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Cardiak, Innovive Pharmaceuticals, RHEI Pharmaceuticals and ViewRay.