BioTech Market Update:

The staff at Bio took the day off today and hit up Where the Surf Meets the Turf at Del Mar. The racing was good, the betting better and the scenery the best. Nothing like hanging out by the Pacific, beautiful women and men and the best jockeys the sport has to offer. Did I mention they have beer?

Here's what happened whilst 101 staff was gambling away their salaries:

Biotech stocks got a nice boost early Monday from news that Swiss drugmaker Roche plans to buy the remaining 44% of Genentech Inc. that it doesn't already own for $43.7 billion.

The Amex Pharmaceutical Index was down marginally at 306.0 while the Amex Biotechnology Index, of which Genentech is a component, jumped 3% to 819.5.
Genentech shares soared 14% to $93.52, notably above Roche's bid price of $89 a share, indicating investors may be anticipating a counter-offer.

Early Monday, Roche announced its bid, stating the merger would stream-line drug discovery and increase productivity. The deal would also give Roche total control over Genentech's marketed products, which include such oncology drugs as Avastin, Herceptin and Rituxan.
Genentech is a leading marketer of biologic oncology drugs. Roche sells Genentech's products overseas, while the biotech group markets them in the U.S.

Shares of partners Merck & Co. and Schering-Plough Corp. fell on news that they were delaying release of their respective quarterly financial reports, which were expected early Monday morning, until after market close.

The companies attributed the postponement to the expected release of new data on their controversial cholesterol drug Vytorin at 1:00 p.m. ET.

Sales of Vytorin have been in the dumps since this winter, when a medical study showed the drug wasn't any more effective in battling heart disease than generic versions of Merck's cholesterol drug Zocor. Vytorin is a combination of Zocor, which lost patent protection in 2006, and a newer drug called Zetia.

Biogen Idec shares were up 5% at $67.95. The biotech, which is slated to roll out its earnings report early Tuesday, co-markets Genentech's blockbuster oncology drug Rituxan.

Also climbing was Biogen partner Elan Corp. Elan and Biogen market the multiple sclerosis therapy Tysabri.