Merck plans big biotech push in Palo Alto

Traditional pill maker Merck & Co. Inc. is staking a large part of its future on biotech drugs, and in Palo Alto.

Merck is throwing its cash and brand expertise behind a two-pronged approach — developing its own biotech drugs, as well as biosimilars, or copies of established biotech drugs — as it seeks to make up for lost time. In Palo Alto alone, Merck will hire 30 to 40 researchers this year as it shifts from discovering targets for drugs to discovering the drugs themselves.