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Mon. Jun. 18, 2012 Mass. AG appeals nuke plant relicensing The state is appealing a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the operating license of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth for another 20 years. Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office said an appeal was filed on Monday with the US Court of Appeals in Boston. Coakley said the NRC abused its discretion by relicensing the plant without fully considering safety issues that were raised by the accident at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan after last year’s earthquake and tsunami.	Advertisement Sign up to receive daily deals from Boston.com in your inbox.
FDA drug review proposal draws critics at BIO Convention As more than 15,000 life sciences professional converged on Boston Monday for the Biotechnology Organization’s annual convention, a Food and Drug Administration plan to make regulatory decisions on new drugs more transparent drew criticism from some industry members. “For my money, this is kindergarten,” groused Vladimir Shnaydman, president of Orbee Consulting. “They move too slowly, and this is very disappointing.” One goal of the FDA’s proposed “benefit-risk framework” is to improve the consistency of the agency’s review criteria for new drug candidates.
Gov. Deval Patrick plans biotech meetings with representatives from UK, Israel, and Chile As the 2012 BIO International Convention kicks off in Boston, Governor Deval Patrick is set to meet Monday with United Kingdom minister of universities and science David Willetts, Israeli chief scientist Avi Hasson, and Chilean ambassador to the United States Felipe Bulnes, his office said. “Hosting all this talent from all around the world is a great opportunity for us to showcase our supercluster here, build on relationships we already have, and create some new ones,” Patrick said in a statement.
Mass. gas prices fall another 5 cents a gallon The average price for gas in Massachusetts is $3.439 a gallon in the latest weekly AAA survey, down 5 cents from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said Monday. It’s the ninth consecutive week of decreases. Prices locally are now 46 cents less than the those recorded in mid-April. The current national average for gas is $3.50 a gallon. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $3.68.
MFS Investment Management opens new offices, unveils new brand positioning MFS Investment Management, a money management firm with offices in Boston, said Monday it is debuting a new brand positioning --- “Building Better Insights.” MFS added that it also has a new corporate logo, called the “infinite M.” MFS also announced the opening of investment research offices in Hong Kong and São Paulo. In addition, MFS said it is establishing its first independent institutional sales office in Australia.
Myriant receives $25m award under a USDA loan guarantee program Myriant Corp., a bio-based chemicals company headquartered in Quincy, said Monday that it has closed a $25 million private bond placement for the construction of its flagship commercial bio-succinic acid plant located in Lake Providence, La. The placement utilized the Business and Industry Rural Development Loan Guarantee program that is administered by the United States Department of Agriculture. Succinic acid is traditionally produced from petroleum and is used in a wide variety of applications, including the production of polymers, fibers, surfactants, detergents, and flavors.
Parexel unveils platform designed to make clinical drug trials more efficient Parexel International Corp. announced Monday the launch of a platform that is designed to simplify and better coordinate the clinical trial process for experimental drugs. Headquartered in Waltham, Parexel provides services to pharmaceutical companies looking to develop and commercialize new drugs. Parexel calls its new offering the Parexel MyTrials platform. The announcement came as many life sciences companies converge on Boston, which is playing host this week to an industry convention known as BIO.
Attorney General Martha Coakley asked to investigate relocation deal of Curt Schilling’s workers An attorney representing five former employees for Curt Schilling’s bankrupt video game company, asked Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley on Friday to investigate the firm’s relocation company for violating the state’s consumer protection law and sticking workers with a second mortgage.
Walmart abandons plans for stores in Somerville, Watertown Walmart Stores Inc. said it is abandoning efforts to build a grocery in Somerville and a big-box store in Watertown saying the projects no longer make financial sense for the world’s largest retailer. The chain had not yet submitted formal plans to either of the towns, but had been working with the landlords of each site. In Somerville, Walmart wanted to build a Neighborhood Market, grocery on near Assembly Square. In Watertown, the retailer was looking to construct a Supercenter on Arsenal Street.
Mullen is about to launch game-show marketing campaign for JetBlue Airways Boston ad agency Mullen is about to launch an online game-show marketing campaign for JetBlue Airways. The campaign seeks to raise awareness for JetBlue Getaways, the airline’s vacation package offering. Recent JetBlue ad campaigns have mostly targeted business travelers. The “Get Away With It” campaign not only focuses on leisure travelers, but on Boston and New York as well. Boston and New York are two of JetBlue’s more popular markets.
Feds fill quota for high-tech work visas US companies looking to hire skilled foreign workers have signed up for special work visas at the fastest rate in years. The US Citizenship and Immigration Services said earlier this week that it has filled its quota for the H-1B visa program, which is widely used by high-tech companies to recruit foreign engineers and technicians. The US issues 85,000 such visas each year, and begins accepting new applications in April.
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