Merck's reCalibration

Merck & Co. Inc. has traditionally formed external academic partnerships with labs working on projects in areas of the pharma's direct interest. Now, Merck is expanding its early stage academic outreach by investing up to $90 million over seven years to found the not-for-profit California Institute for Biomedical Research, which is focused on the translation of basic research into new medicines.

By doing so, the pharma is creating a halfway house between academia and pharma with the expertise to develop academic discoveries to the point at which they would be of commercial interest...