To ensure you receive your Boston.com e-mails, please add newsletters@boston.com to your address book. If you have trouble reading this e-mail, go to http://www.boston.com/business/ticker_headlines
Daily Business Update Get up-to-the-minute Business Updates More Business News »
Thu. May. 24, 2012 South Shore Hospital to pay $750,000 to settle data breach charges South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth will pay $750,000 to settle charges related to a 2010 data breach that compromised the personal information on over 800,000 people.	Advertisement
Mass. consumer confidence index holds steady A statewide consumer confidence index maintained by Mass Index suggested that consumer confidence was stable during the second quarter, but perceptions about the job market remain negative. Still, Massachusetts consumer confidence was more than 20 percent higher than national consumer confidence. Commenting on sentiment in the Bay State, Mass Insight chief executive William H. Guenther said: “Massachusetts consumers are seeing more positive conditions in the state. But there are enough dark clouds in the national and global picture to control their optimism.”
WMECO customers to see lower bills SPRINGFIELD — Residential customers of Western Massachusetts Electric Co. can expect to see their monthly bills drop 13 to 15 percent starting July 1. The cuts approved by state utilities regulators will last six months and would mean a $5.90 reduction in the monthly bill of customers who use 600 kilowatt hours per month. The cut also applies to small commercial and industrial customers. Medium and large commercial and industrial customers will see a slight increase.
Liquid Metal Battery secures $15m in Series B round Liquid Metal Battery Corp. announced today it has raised an additional $15 million in funding, completing its Series B round. The round was led by Khosla Ventures. The company’s Series A round investors, Bill Gates of Microsoft fame and the energy company Total, fully participated in this Series B round. The Cambridge company is working on commercializing a new battery technology that seeks to transform grid-scale electricity storage.
Ariad CEO says Italy and Spain likely to pay for new cancer drug Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. chief executive Harvey Berger said he’s confident Italy and Spain will reimburse the Cambridge-based drugmaker’s new cancer medicine and he plans to sell it there amid Europe’s debt crisis. Ariad plans to seek regulatory approval of the drug, called ponatinib, later this year for a cancer of the white blood cells known as chronic myeloid leukemia. The first phase of the commercial program will include the US, the UK, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, though not Greece, Berger said.
Broad Institute cofounder David Altshuler is appointed to Vertex board of directors Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge biotechnology company, announced Thursday that David Altshuler, M.D., has joined its board as an independent director. Altshuler is a professor of genetics and medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also one of the four founding members of the Broad Institute of Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Altshuler has helped further the understanding of DNA sequence variation in the human genome and its contribution to the development of specific diseases.
Fidelity Biosciences invests in Blueprint Medicines Blueprint Medicines, a Cambridge company developing targeted therapies for cancer, said Thursday that new investor Fidelity Biosciences joined founding investor Third Rock Ventures in the $40 million Series A financing that Blueprint Medicines announced last year. Third Rock is a venture capital firm with offices in Boston. Fidelity Biosciences is a subsidiary of Boston-based FMR LLC, the parent company of Fidelity Investments. Stephen C. Knight, M.D., president and managing partner of Fidelity Biosciences, will join the board of directors of Blueprint Medicines.
More trouble at 38 Studios: Two top employees leave Curt Schilling’s ailing video game company The exodus at 38 Studios has begun.
Facebook COO talks careers to HBS grads Less than a week after Facebook’s troubled debut as a public company, Sheryl Sandberg, the social network’s chief operating officer and a Harvard Business School alumna, returned to Cambridge Wednesday to deliver the school’s keynote address during its Class Day ceremonies for graduating students.
Phoenix sold WFNX for $14.5 million, papers reveal Phoenix Media/Communications Group, which publishes the Boston Phoenix, is selling alternative rock station WFNX 101.7 FM for $14.5 million, according to documents released Wednesday by the Federal Communications Commission, which must approve the sale.
Verizon pays $317k to resolve allegations that it underpaid the Mass. unemployment fund Subsidiaries of Verizon Communications Inc. have agreed to pay more than $317,000 to resolve allegations that they failed to pay their full unemployment contributions to the Commonwealth’s unemployment trust fund, the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley said Wednesday. According to Verizon, an “honest dispute” arose over the amount of trust fund contributions when employees were transferred from one Verizon unit to another. Verizon said it agreed to pay the roughly $317,000 without admitting wrongdoing.
ADVERTISEMENT Looking to catch the next big game in town? Search from a wide range of Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots seats in our exclusive ticket section powered by Ace Ticket. For the best seats to any sporting event in Boston, go to Boston.com Tickets.