If you wondered what Amgen (AMGN) would do with the extra $1 billion it raised through a recent bond offering, now we know what they had in mind when they finalized the numbers. The company issued $4 billion of debt and simultaneously announced a $3 billion share buyback. It appears the extra $1 billion will be used for acquisitions.

After buying Ilypsa for $420 million on June 4th, Amgen announced Wednesday it would buy Alantos Pharmaceuticals for $300 million in cash, raising its shopping spree to nearly three-quarters of the available billion dollars. As I've said before, I think these small deals make sense for the company. If even one of them results in a significant product approval in the next few years it will be well worth the investments they have made.

Full Disclosure: Long shares of Amgen at the time of writing