In today’s Bulldog wrapup of technology and life science news:

  • Apple unveils medical apps for iPhones
  • Sanofi badly wants to buy a San Francisco pharmaceutical firm
  • Comcast is buying DreamWorks
  • FTC wins court case over in-apps purchases made by children through Amazon

The details:

  • Smartphone health: Apple releases software for medical apps

Apple is edging its way a little further into health care with the release of new iPhone apps that patients can use to manage their own medicalconditions — from diabetes to pregnancy and even depression.

While there are hundreds of health-related apps on the market, Apple wants to put its stamp on a new ecosystem of treatment programs. Rather than build the apps itself, the tech giant developed a set of software tools and templates, called “CareKit,” that health-care groups and health-tech startups can use to create their own programs.

Apple says it wanted to help developers build easy-to-use apps for patients to record symptoms, get useful information, track their progress and even send reports to a doctor. Experts say the CareKit program could help bring standards to a relatively new and unruly industry, while giving Apple a toehold in the growing health-tech market.

CareKit apps hitting the Apple online store this week include One Drop for diabetics; Start for people taking anti-depression drugs; and two apps from health startup Glow, aimed at women who are pregnant or caring for newborns. Apple says larger organizations, including the University of Rochester and hospitals at the Texas MedicalCenter, are working on CareKit apps for people with Parkinson’s disease and patients who’ve undergone heart or lung operations.

“These mobile tools can help people reach their health goals,” said Thomas Goetz of Iodine, a startup that used CareKit in the latest version of its Start app. Along with providing information about side-effects to depression medications, the app asks patients to record their symptoms and answer standardized questions to track how they’re doing. Start uses a CareKit feature that lets patients send reports to their doctors; eventually, Goetz said, doctors will be able to respond by adjusting their instructions for medication, diet or exercise.

Data stored on iPhones is encrypted, and Iodine’s app provides cautions to make sure patients understand they’re sending sensitive information to their doctors. Goetz said his company is also developing back-end software for medical offices that will comply with federal confidentiality rules.

  • Sanofi makes $9.3 billion bid for American firm Medivation

Drug maker Sanofi says it has made a $9.3 billion bid for San Francisco pharmaceutical firm Medivation, part of the firm’s effort to expand its portfolio of cancer treatments.

Medivation Inc. has so far resisted overtures from Paris-based Sanofi, which is seeking to compete with the likes of America’s Bristol-Myers Squibb, Switzerland’s Roche and Britain’s AstraZeneca, all three of whom have poured money into cancer drug research.

Sanofi Chief Executive Olivier Brandicourt says in an open letter to Medivation’s CEO David T. Hung that the all-cash offer is for $52.50 per share. He says that the deal would give Medivation’s cancer treatments – notably Xtandi – the benefit of Sanofi’s “global capabilities (and) significant resources.”

There was no immediate reaction from Medivation.

  • Comcast buying DreamWorks Animation for about $3.55B

Comcast is buying DreamWorks Animation, the film company behind the Shrek, Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda franchises, for approximately $3.55 billion.

DreamWorks stockholders will receive $41 for each share they own. That’s a 24 percent premium to the company’s Wednesday closing price of $32.20. The companies put the deal’s value at about $3.8 billion.

DreamWorks will become part of the Universal Filmed Entertainment Group, which includes Universal Pictures.

Once the deal closes, DreamWorks co-founder and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg will become chairman of DreamWorks New Media. He’ll also serve as a consultant to NBCUniversal, a unit of Comcast Corp.

Both companies’ boards have approved the transaction, which is targeted to close by year’s end.

  • FTC rules Amazon is liable for in-app charges

A federal judge has ruled that Amazon is liable for in-app purchases made by children, the latest development in a suit filed by the Federal Trade Commission in 2014.

The FTC reached a settlement agreement with Apple and Google in 2014 about in-app purchases made by children without parental consent but sued Amazon when the Seattle company did not agree to settle. All three companies now require a password for in-app purchases or an opt-in to enable purchases without a password.

The judge asked for information from the FTC and Amazon about how much money Amazon owes consumers related to the in-app purchases.

Amazon.com Inc. did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.