Merck buys a fledgling neurodegenerative biotech spawned by an old GSK discovery alliance. What?s up with that?

Avalon Ventures chief Jay Lichter has a well-known yen for drug development programs picked up in academia. And what he found in Haoxing Xu?s lab at the University of Michigan pricked his interest enough to launch one of his umbrella biotechs in San Diego.…