Johnson & Johnson signs $2.4 billion deal

Johnson & Johnson, the health-care giant known for its baby, skin and wound-care products, is boosting its biotech might with the acquisition of Scios Inc. in a $2.4 billion cash-for-stock deal announced Monday.

Buying Scios, a 22-year-old biotech company with one product on the market, gives Johnson & Johnson a new, likely lucrative heart drug and a possible future blockbuster, while Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Scios should get sales and research support that will help it grow quickly, analysts say.

The deal, expected to close in this year’s second quarter, would be the third acquisition of a biotechnology company in less than four years for Johnson & Johnson.

Investments: Venture capital totals drop to 21-year low

Still hurting from the dot-com bust, shell-shocked venture capitalists in 2002 curtailed their fund raising for future investments to a 21-year low, according to a report released Monday.

While 108 venture capital funds raised a total of $6.9 billion during 2002, another 26 funds refunded $5 billion to investors, according to data compiled by Thomson Venture Economics for the National Venture Capital Assn.

The net fund-raising total of $1.9 billion represented the smallest inflow of venture capital since $1.6 billion flowed into the industry in 1981.

Lodging: Marriott posts loss

Hotel operator Marriott International Monday reported a smaller fourth-quarter loss than a year ago but lowered its outlook for 2003.

Marriott posted a loss of $37 million, or 15 cents per share, for the quarter versus a loss of $116 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.

The fourth-quarter results included charges for Marriott’s exit from its senior citizen housing business and service distribution operation. Without the charges, Marriott earned 55 cents per share in the fourth quarter.

Marriott has a hotel in Lawrence.