Shire addresses its Replagal disappointment with the acquisition of FerroKin and its hematology pipeline.

Merck announced March 15 that it plans to invest $90 million over the next seven years in a nonprofit biomedical research center in San Diego dubbed the California Institute for Biomedical Research, or Calibr.

It was always a question of when, not if. Amgen needed to do something to provide for its post-EPO future; now the action has started. The big biotech went on a $720 million cash shopping spree in the early part of June, buying first Ilypsa Inc. for $420 million, then swallowing up Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million a couple of days later.

Polymers have long been useful as critical components in delivering or stabilizing a variety of medicines. Now a small band of companies that includes Genzyme, Ilypsa and Midway Pharmaceuticals is going one step further: they are designing polymers that aren't just inert drug delivery vehicles, but are themselves therapeutic agents.