The big & small of it all

Fewer and fewer companies believe they can afford to focus only on small molecules or large molecules. Biogen Idec Inc. recently announced its first venture into the world of small molecule cancer therapeutics, while Merck & Co. Inc. has snapped up a pair of protein production companies.

While large molecules alone have served Biogen Idec well for addressing hematological malignancies, the company has concluded small molecule expertise will be a necessary add-on as it moves into solid tumors. Merck, on the other hand, is still without a biologic on the market, and needs to make sure it doesn't miss out on the next-generation protein and antibody therapeutic platforms...