Tue. Oct. 25, 2011 Global investor confidence rises
Global investor confidence posted a 96.7 reading in October, up from September’s revised reading of 90, said State Street Global Markets, the investment research and trading arm of State Street Corp. On a regional basis, North American investor confidence increased from 85.1 in September to 91.7 in October, State Street Global Markets added. Solid corporate balance sheets and the prospects for a resolution of the European debt crisis were cited as possible reasons for the increase in confidence. Flora is OmniGuide’s new chief executive
OmniGuide Inc., a Cambridge company that has developed a laser scalpel for minimally invasive surgery, has appointed Scott Flora to be its president and chief executive. Flora most recently served as president of the surgical devices unit at Covidien PLC, a maker of surgical products and drugs with operations in Mansfield. Privately held OmniGuide makes medical devices from technology licensed from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Its BeamPath laser scalpel has been on the market for about four years. Acton Pharmaceuticals licenses nasal aerosol drug
Acton Pharmaceuticals, a Marlborough-based company with a focus on respiratory drugs, has licensed a nasal spray for allergic rhinitis. Several years ago, a unit of French drug maker Sanofi SA, received FDA approval for Nasacort HFA, a treatment for symptoms associated with seasonal allergic rhinitis and perennial allergic rhinitis. Manufacturing aerosol products can be technically challenging, and Nasacort HFA has yet to make it onto the US market. Because of its expertise, Acton believes it can meet those challenges and commercialize Nasacort HFA. Mass. single-family home sales rise nearly 10 percent in September
There were 3,512 detached single-family homes sold in Massachusetts this September, a nearly 10 percent increase from September 2010, the Massachusetts Association of Realtors said today. On a year-to-year basis, the median selling price for single-family Massachusetts homes in September was $294,950, up 1.7 percent. But year-to-year comparisons may not present a full picture. Last summer, home sales slowed dramatically following the expiration of a federal home buyers’ tax credit designed to motivate people to buy. Coakley urges fed regulators to curb phone cramming, says billing practice is rife with “fraudulent behavior”
Coakley made her comments in a filing to the Federal Communications Commission, which is considering limiting the practice of third-party charges to consumers’ phone bills. Cramming occurs when customers are billed for outside services, such as upgraded voice mail or text messaging, but the fees are hard to find because they are crammed among the jumble of other numbers on monthly phone bills. Many consumers have complained the charges are for products or services they have never wanted or willingly ordered. Highland Capital relocates local office to Kendall Square
Highland Capital Partners has relocated its East Coast office from Lexington to Kendall Square, the Cambridge neighborhood that is a hotbed for technology and life sciences start-ups. In explaining the move, the venture capital firm said that it wanted to get even “closer to the vibrant start-up community” that is in and around Kendall Square. Besides Cambridge, Highland Capital has offices in Menlo Park, Calif.; Geneva; London; and Shanghai. Mass. gas prices steady after uptick last week
The average price for gasoline in Massachusetts is unchanged this week after a one-cent uptick last week. AAA Southern New England says its latest weekly survey finds self-serve regular selling for an average of $3.42 per gallon. That’s 3 cents below the national average of $3.45. Last year at this time, self-serve regular was selling in Massachusetts for an average of $2.80. Landmark High School will participate in Lemelson-MIT InvenTeam Initiative
A team of students, teachers, and mentors at Landmark High School in Beverly is one of 16 teams that will participate in the Lemelson-MIT Program’s 2011-2012 InvenTeam initiative. The Lemelson-MIT Program seeks to celebrate innovators and inspire young people to pursue careers through invention. For the initiative, the Landmark team aims to create desalinization units for villages in emerging nations. The team wants to develop a unit that can be fashioned from local recycled parts and that costs $50 or less. Sanofi names Meeker as Genzyme division’s new chief executive
French drug maker Sanofi SA this morning Vertex study will evaluate 12-week treatment period for some hepatitis C patients
Five months after it received regulatory approval for a potential blockbuster hepatitis C drug called Incivek, Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. is launching a study to evaluate whether some patients can be treated with a 12-week program rather than programs of 24 or 48 weeks. There is a subset of hepatitis C patients who tend to respond more quickly to treatment, and Cambridge-based Vertex is now evaluating whether a combination drug therapy for that group can be shortened. Cubist to buy Adolor
Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. has agreed to buy all outstanding shares of Adolor Corp. with an up-front payment of $190 million. Adolor can qualify for additional payments if its drugs achieve regulatory and commercialization milestones; the total transaction is valued at up to $415 million, net of Adolor’s third quarter 2011 cash balance, Lexington-based Cubist said. Adolor of Pennsylvania markets a drug designed to accelerate recovery time for patients who have had bowel resection surgery, and it has another promising drug candidate in its pipeline. | 
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