A behind-the-scenes look at Cards Against Biotechnology, Cubist's snarky 'last hurrah'

Earlier this year at the annual JP Morgan Healthcare conference--and about a month after the company announced that it would sell out to Merck ($MRK) for $8.4 billion--Cubist Pharmaceuticals started giving away decks of "Cards Against Biotechnology." A biotech-themed version of Cards Against Humanity, the game was a crowd-pleaser. It was also a "last hurrah" for Cubist as it prepared to turn over its business to Merck, Praveen Tipirneni, then the company's senior vice president of strategy, told FierceBiotech in February.

In Cards Against Biotechnology, a player lays down a noun card face-up and others put in face-down descriptors, each hoping that their card will be chosen as the most apt. For example, a "why I got fired from my last biotech" card could be completed with another that reads "Ebola." Or someone could fill in the blank on a card reading "It wasn't the change in tax inversion rules that torpedoed the AbbVie/Shire deal. It was _______," with "a middle-aged CEO in shorts." Story