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.

When cells are subject to stress, they react with change at the ribosomal level, altering the process of translation and the resulting protein products. Tapping into that insight is the basic premise behind GliaGen, which is developing novel screening technologies that represent a unique, previously unknown methodology for measuring cellular stress and death. The firm's translation regulatory expression system helps assess drug candidates for toxicity and safety risks early in the lead identification and drug discovery processes.

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.

Start-Up showcases these recently launched companies: ActoGenix, GliaGen, Sage Medical, Traxion Therapeutics.