(FORTUNE Small Business) – Breakthrough In 1998, when Jane Hurd co-founded her medical-animation firm, animation was an afterthought in pharmaceutical marketing. With a roster that now includes all the top-ten drug manufacturers, Hurd Studios' revenues have jumped 100% in the past two years, to just under $4 million.

Redrawing tradition Hurd lost her job as an animator at Time Life Medical (owned by FSB's parent company) when the division folded. But she knew the market hadn't flatlined. So along with co-founders Michael Tague and Stephen Biale, she went to previous clients and sold them on a new business--and a new business model. Hurd proposed using a single piece of animation for several purposes: websites, DVDs, trade shows, etc. And unlike other animators, Hurd Studios is a one-stop shop, handling text, video, and music.

Capturing eyeballs Thanks to high-profile projects (including one shown at this year's American Heart Association conference), Hurd is raking in clients. "The pharmaceutical industry has a sheep mentality," says CEO Biale. "Once someone does something new successfully, they all follow suit." That's a different kind of cartoon network. --Julie Sloane