Criticized for not properly managing growth, Medeva's managers contend they're building a sustainable business. They used profits from methylphenidate, an off-patent treatment for attention deficit disorder, to finance a long list of acquisitions, many of which didn't work out. When methylphenidate sales crashed with the entrance of generic competition, so did Medeva's credibility with investors. They're hoping their self-sustaining European and American infrastructure will help them attract the higher-risk, higher profit products they shunned in their original strategy but now need in order to dig themselves out of their profit hole.

Microscience's platform includes a mucosal vaccine delivery program and a functional genomics program called {Signature-Tagged Mutagenesis}. The company hopes to develop vaccines and anti-infective candidates.

Savvy venture capitalists, biotech firms, and pharmaceutical companies have long recognized universities as technology troves of untapped value. In the last year or so, universities have developed a heightened perception of their own value--and are increasingly willing to exploit it through creative dealmaking. A look at the previous six months of licenses and research agreements signed between universities and pharmaceutical companies.