Vaccibody AS’ platform can develop vaccines that can drive the immune response in specific directions and thus optimize the vaccine for different diseases – for example, toward the T-cell cell-mediated response for therapeutic vaccines, or the B-cell antibody-mediated response for prophylactic vaccines. The start-up’s lead vaccine is a therapeutic one, targeting precancerous lesions and malignancies in the cervix caused by human papillomavirus. Safety and toxicity studies are under way, and clinical trials are planned for early 2014.

Across the industry, cardiovascular R&D budgets are shrinking, and in some cases, practically disappearing. Some large companies are de-emphasizing the cardiovascular space, citing factors ranging from the size and high expense of clinical trials to the challenge of proving benefit when most experimental therapies are tested in tandem with current standards of care. Nonetheless, for those companies still willing to venture into the cardiovascular arena, congestive heart failure (CHF) offers a huge, lucrative indication to pursue. Several start-up firms are targeting CHF and related conditions by a variety of mechanisms, including polymer therapeutics, microRNA targeting and gene therapy. In this issue, we profile four such start-ups: miRagen Therapeutics, NellOne Therapeutics, Phrixus Pharmaceuticals and Sorbent Therapeutics.

Despite continuing pharmacological and physiological advances, ongoing public health campaigns, and well established guidelines defining challenging treatment targets, cardiovascular disease (CVD) kills more people globally than any other disease. Nevertheless, the pharmaceutical industry seems divided over whether CVD still holds the prospect of realising a reasonable return on investment. On the one hand, several companies are pulling out of CVD R&D, despite having a rich cardiovascular heritage. For example, Pfizer and Wyeth, currently mid-merger, individually announced a shift in focus away from cardiology towards areas such as oncology and neurology.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current,issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group: Succeeding in Heart Failure, Incrementally: profiles of ARCA Discovery, Bio-Medisinsk Innovasjon, CoGenesys, and NovaCardia. Plus these Start-Ups Across Health Care: Clarity Medical, K2M, PlaCor, and Protez Pharmaceuticals.