There is tremendous value to be had in exploiting the pharmaceutical uses of natural products, but few companies built around natural-product platforms have enjoyed much success. To succeed, these companies shouldn't be focused on merely providing chemical diversity to the drug industry. Instead, they need to articulate how their libraries will allow them to close in, quickly and with a relatively low risk of failure, on specific drugs for specific diseases.

A preview of the emerging health care companies profiled in the current issue of Start-Up. This month's profile group, Anti-Angiogenesis, features profiles of Cell Matrix Inc., Kereos Inc., MBT Munich Biotechnology GMBH, Oncology Sciences Corp. and Pivotal BioSciences Inc. Plus these Selected Start-Ups across Health Care: CardioVention Inc., MedEView Inc. and XenoPort Inc.

With two product candidates in its portfolio--contortrostatin (an anti-angiogenic agent purified from snake venom), and a proprietary low-dose version of interleukin-2--Pivotal BioSciences hopes to be a catalyst for other university-based researchers in the Los Angeles area to develop their discoveries under its corporate umbrella.

Anti-angiogenesis as a treatment for cancer was hardly a new concept, even in 1998 when a New York Times article first put Judah Folkman's work on the public map. Although the hype has died away, the industrial machine of anti-angiogenesis has continued to roll on--as indicated by the start-up activity we describe in the following profiles.