Merck jumps in the biotech VC game with $250M plan

Big Pharma is betting more big bucks on early-stage biotech. As drugmakers seek more external sources of new products to feed their rusty R&D pipelines, drug giant Merck ($MRK) has plans to pump $250 million into various wells of funding sources for young companies, InVivo Blog reports. Under an effort dubbed the Merck Research Venture Fund, the second-largest U.S. drugmaker wants to back...