Biotechnology

In a move that could dramatically enhance the role genetics play in world food production, chemical giant DuPont Co. said Monday it would buy leading seed producer Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. in a $7.7-billion deal. The two companies signed a definitive agreement calling for a cash-and-stock merger that would give DuPont a new wholly owned unit with $5 billion in annual sales and a global marketing force devoted to the most fundamental of all agricultural products--seeds.

Amgen Inc. is a biotechnology company that develops medicines used in the treatment of cancer, kidney disease, arthritis, bone disease and other serious illnesses. The Thousand Oaks company's top-selling products include arthritis medication Enbrel, osteoporosis drug Prolia and anemia medicines Aranesp and Epogen. And its Neulasta helps the body generate white-blood cells to prevent infection during chemotherapy treatment. Amgen earned $4.3 billion last year on record revenue of $17.3 billion.

Fast-growing salmon. Pork containing heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids. These are two examples of products you might see in your local supermarket soon -- animals developed not through conventional breeding but through genetic engineering. On Jan. 15, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration decided how it will regulate genetically engineered animals, for the first time paving the way for such animals or their products to be sold as food and medicine.

Merck agreed to buy Millipore Corp., a supplier of drug-development equipment for biotechnology companies, for about $6 billion in cash, beating a rival offer from Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. Merck will pay $107 a share, the Darmstadt, Germany-based company said Monday. After the acquisition, Merck, the world's largest producer of liquid crystals used to make flat-panel televisions, will get about 35% of its revenue from chemicals, up from about 25% currently, Merck spokeswoman Phyllis Carter said.

* MedImmune Inc. will buy cancer drug maker U.S. Bioscience Inc. for about $455 million in stock to speed its entry into the oncology market. MedImmune will exchange 0.15 share for each U.S. Bioscience share. Based on Tuesday's MedImmune share price of $102.06, the buyout values U.S. Bioscience at $15.31 a share, a 25% premium to its closing price Tuesday of $11.50.

Re "Engineered Crops Yield Many Fears," Ventura County Perspective, April 2. It's obvious that the American public is afraid of the possibilities and consequences that biotechnology has the ability to harvest. With this being the future of agriculture, both in plant and animal production, much is yet to be heard on the issue. As with any new technology or discovery, our first human reaction is to be afraid of it and to dream up all the horrible outcomes. How easily we forget that eventually we learn to master the technology that we have created and use it to our benefit.

Barely a dozen years ago, the high priests of computerdom mocked "hackers" as clever misfits and dismissed personal computers as "toys." The revenge of the nerds, as Bill Gates will cheerfully tell you, has been both sweet and lucrative. Today, technology and opportunity are rapidly conspiring to create a new generation of hackers. But these folks won't hack software bits or silicon chips; they'll hack E. coli, restriction enzymes and double helixes--life itself. Call them "biohackers."

"Biotech Bears Fruit for Farmers, Not Consumers" [April 8] drastically understates the benefits of today's biotech products and the promise for tomorrow. Crops developed through biotechnology are dramatically reducing the amount of pesticides sprayed on crops. If America's farmers are not spraying millions of pounds of synthetic chemicals, that means there is less of those chemicals in the environment and used to produce the food we buy--which is a very real and profound benefit for consumers.

The bulls are running wild again in the biotech sector. On Monday the Amex biotech stock index rose 0.7% to 729.69, even as the Nasdaq composite fell 1.1%. The biotech index has rocketed from its May lows, and now is less than a 10% move from retaking its March peak. Among the big movers Monday: * Progenics Pharmaceuticals (ticker symbol: (PGNX) soared $6.81 to $23.

At a biotechnology center near this college town, two unusual creatures were born several weeks ago. The latest products of a company known as Embryogen, the creatures might provide the grist for an interesting theological debate. Namely, what do you call these fat, squirming babies? They look suspiciously porcine and, to be sure, the two newborns walk like pigs, squeal like pigs, roll around and get filthy like pigs. As a matter of fact, they are pigs--but pigs like God never made.

At a time when major biotech companies in California are eager for investors, Japanese pharmaceutical companies are increasingly becoming a go-to place for money to develop and sell new drugs. Japan's largest drug maker teamed up with Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc. in San Diego last month to develop and sell an obesity drug that the companies think could eventually be worth $1 billion. In October, Japan's second-largest drug firm announced a $110-million payment to Medivation Inc. of San Francisco to develop and market a potential prostate cancer drug together in a deal that they hope could reach $655 million.

Whether talking about electric cars or his much-promised "Subway to the Sea," Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has reworked his message during his second term to focus on a single overriding goal: jobs. With more than a quarter-million residents of his city out of work, the mayor has put a new emphasis on job creation after spending much of his first four-year term focused on a spectrum of policy issues such as the environment, education and crime. "I think this is a new appreciation at City Hall for the importance of jobs, since we have lost 340,000 in Los Angeles County since January 2008," said Gary L. Toebben, president of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce.

The gig : Chief executive of Sapphire Energy Inc., a San Diego biofuels company that develops algae-based fuel that has been used experimentally to power airplanes and, recently, a car that was driven across the country. The serial entrepreneur has had a hand in starting several companies in industries including medical engineering and biotechnology. Sapphire hopes to produce 1 million gallons of algae diesel and jet fuel each year in the next two years, and up to a massive 1 billion gallons of fuel a year by 2025.

Biotech giant Amgen Inc.'s widely used anemia drug Aranesp didn't benefit patients with chronic kidney disease, Type 2 diabetes and anemia in a large, late-stage study, the company said. Patients in the study who got Aranesp as part of their treatment fared no better on the study's two main measures than those who got a placebo. One measure was heart complications or death from any cause; the other was the length of time until the patient died or needed chronic kidney dialysis. Patients in the Aranesp group also had more strokes, a known risk of the drug.

Biogen Idec Inc. shareholders elected two of billionaire investor Carl Icahn's nominees and two company-backed directors to its board after a proxy contest. Preliminary results show shareholders elected Robert W. Pangia, William D. Young, Alex Denner and Richard Mulligan to the board, Biogen reported. Two other Icahn proposals, to incorporate the company in North Dakota and to fix the size of the board at 13 seats, were rejected by shareholders, Biogen said.

Just because a drug is made from the new and evolving science of biotechnology doesn't mean it needs stricter regulating than regular medicines, the Clinton Administration announced Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration is eliminating restrictions on biotechnology that could save the industry hundreds of millions of dollars and speed the development of biotech drugs. The moves are part of an administration package of regulatory reforms.

Gov. Pete Wilson on Friday said he would form a 20-member biotechnology council to advise Sacramento on how best to help the industry increase its competitiveness. The announcement came as more than 500 health care experts met in San Diego to discuss--and in many cases criticize--President Clinton's proposed health care reform package.