Aetna’s acquisition of Coventry Health Care will bring the health insurer’s Part D prescription drug plan membership to 2 million and its Medicaid managed care membership to 2 million.

United and Humana remain by far the biggest players in the stand-alone drug insurance market for Medicare, but the field is gaining on them. They don't seem to mind. Is that a sign that the market is "mature"? Or a warning of rocky times ahead for a critical program for pharma.

PanCel is developing a device to take on the glucose-controlling function of the pancreas.

Cygnus is one of 1999's few great turnaround stories. A year ago, it was on the verge of collapse, but now it is about to get FDA approval of the first non-invasive glucose monitor for diabetes. Next, Cygnus needs to find a corporate partner without giving up too much, and to determine the true market potential of its device, the GlucoWatch Biographer, which got approved as an adjunct to, not a replacement for, traditional blood-glucose testing.