Our monthly update on technology transfer deals--licensing agreements between companies and universities or other research institutions--in the fields of life sciences, including pharmaceuticals, medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and research/analytical instrumentation and reagents.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, Inhalable Drugs, features profiles of Battelle Pulmonary Therapeutics Inc., Intranasal Technology Inc. and Vectura Ltd. Plus these selected Start-Ups across Health Care: Bioheart Inc., Chemokine Therapeutics Corp., Novare Surgical Systems Inc., Veritas Medicine Inc.

Cytokines, immune-system actors first discovered in the 1980s, have been developed into some very important drugs--like Amgen's blockbuster erythropoietin (Neupogen). Now Chemokine Therapeutics Corp. is seeking to develop peptides that mimic or antagonize a member of a subclass of these proteins known as chemokines. The lead candidate may help protect patients' stem cells from the destructive power of chemotherapy.