With pharma companies' pipelines relatively weak and many patents set to expire, 2004 is shaping up to be a strong year for mergers and acquisitions as firms look for a way to get quick access to products under development. In the first half of the year, acquisitions in the biotech-pharmaceutical industry nearly doubled to 315 from 177 in the last half of 2003, according to BioPharm Insight. Earlier this year Pfizer paid $1.42 billion (US) for Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Esperion Therapeutics, a company developing cardiovascular drugs. Johnson & Johnson last year added New Orleans-based Scios to its stable of biotech companies that also includes Alza in Mountain View, Calif., and Centocor in Malvern, Pa. The Scios acquisition gave Johnson & Johnson access to the drug Natrecor, for congestive heart failure, and other products in the pipeline for inflammation and cardiovascular disease.