Abraxis BioScience Inc., long rumored to be a take-out target, particularly after the January departure of CEO Lonnie Moulder, is being acquired by Celgene Corp. in a $2.9 billion cash and stock deal that gives the big biotech rights to Abraxis' nanoparticle albumin bound-based drug pipeline, including star cancer drug Abraxane. (BioWorld Today)

In the ongoing efforts to diversify its pipeline, Gilead Sciences Inc. offered up to $120 million for privately held kinase company CGI Pharmaceuticals Inc., a deal that offers some long-term growth potential though is unlikely to distract investors from much-anticipated late-stage data that could expand the firm's lucrative HIV franchise. (BioWorld Today)

Investors hoping for a home run with the much-anticipated Phase III data of Hematide in chronic renal failure patients - including shareholders who jumped aboard Affymax Inc. in an oversold $70 million offering late last year - were sorely disappointed. (BioWorld Today)