Biotech Notebook: Hythiam, Shire, Genentech

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Tuesday's news of a merger between Vaxgen(VXGN) and privately held Raven Biotechnologies effectively ends the Vaxgen era as we've known it.

That's because it will be Raven management driving the bus once the merger closes, and its Raven's pipeline of cancer drugs that will be company's primary focus. Vaxgen contributes a publicly traded shell, and some of its executives and board members are sticking around, but not much else.

Saying goodbye to Vaxgen makes me a bit sad, especially after all the fun investors had with its failed HIV vaccine , billionaire Paul Allen's investment stake, cushy executive compensation policies, its myriad accounting problems, a foray into South Korea drug manufacturing and last, but not least, the much-hyped, but inevitably unsuccessful, attempt to become a producer of bio-terrorism cure-alls.

Goodbye, Vaxgen. I'll miss you.