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Thu. Jun. 28, 2012 Vertex releases more data on cystic fibrosis drug, and stock falls 13 percent Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. said Thursday that final data from a midstage clinical study of an experimental combination of its cystic fibrosis drugs “showed statistically significant improvements” in lung function among some adults with cystic fibrosis. In early May, Cambridge-based Vertex issued an “interim analysis” of the study that sent its stock shares surging. In late May, Vertex revised the interim analysis, saying it overstated the clinical data. Vertex said Thursday that today’s final data confirm its revised report. Vertex shares were down about 13 percent in afternoon trading.	Advertisement
State Street Corp. will provide more financial services to Emory University’s endowment State Street Corp., a Boston-based financial services company, said Thursday that it has been appointed by Emory University to provide risk analytics services for the university’s $5 billion endowment. Thursday’s appointment expands State Street’s existing relationship with Emory.
Mass. Securities Division bars Yarmouth woman from securities business Charlene B. Veara of South Yarmouth has been permanently barred from acting as an investment adviser or a broker dealer in Massachusetts after she transferred money from a 98-year-old woman’s investment account to a company that Veara controlled, the office of Massachusetts Secretary of State William F. Galvin said Thursday. An order issued by the Massachusetts Securities Division censures Veara and imposes a permanent cease-and-desist order against her; the order settles an administrative complaint brought against Veara in 2010.
Staples survey: Small businesses are feeling more confident Small businesses are feeling more confident about the economy --- so much so that many small business owners are even planning to get out of town and take a vacation. So concludes a new survey commissioned by Staples Inc., the Framingham-based office supply giant that counts small businesses as among its best customers. A case can be made that Staples is something of a canary-in-a-coal-mine when it comes to predicting the outlook for small businesses.
Sycamore Partners only firm to bid on Talbots After Talbots Inc. reached out to nearly 50 potential investors, only one firm — Sycamore Partners — wanted to buy the troubled Hingham retailer. The five-month effort to find a suitor for Talbots is detailed in a new proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Talbots, which ultimately accepted a $1 million takeover from Sycamore, provides little insight into the reasons why the New York private equity firm reduced its proposal from $3.05 to $2.75 during the final stages of negotiation in May. Numerous shareholders have filed lawsuits that accuse Talbots of breaching their fiduciary duty by accepting a deal that undervalues the company.
Some Boston Herald employees agree to wage cuts Some union members of the Boston Herald newspaper have agreed to wage cuts and furlough days, according to people briefed on the matter. Union members outside the newsroom such as in circulation and advertising recently agreed to a 5 percent wage cut and the loss of some vacation pay, as well as taking five furlough days. The cuts added up to a loss of 7.75 percent of wages for those union members. Newsroom members of the union were not subject to wage cuts.
Aetna to pay more than $1 million to settle charges it failed to cover mandated health benefits and deceptively marketed student health insurance Aetna Life Insurance Co. has agreed to pay more than $1 million in civil penalties and restitution to settle charges that it failed to cover Massachusetts-mandated health insurance benefits and deceptively marketed health coverage to colleges students in the state. The agreement was spelled out in a consent judgment, filed Wednesday in Suffolk Superior Court in Boston along with a complaint by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley outlining the scope of alleged consumer violations by the national insurance giant.
Len Fishman to retire as Hebrew SeniorLife chief executive after a dozen years on the job Len Fishman will retire next spring after a dozen years as chief executive of Hebrew SeniorLife, a Harvard-affiliated provider of senior health care and housing.
Furniture chain Room & Board plans to open a Newbury Street store next year Room & Board, a Minnesota-based chain of about a dozen US stores, plans to open a multilevel store in Boston in late 2013. The new 39,000-square-foot store, Room & Board’s first in New England, will be located at 407 Newbury St. at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue. Room & Board said it will occupy the entire building, which was commissioned for construction by the estate of Henry Lee in 1908. The building’s neighbors include the Harvard Club and the Eliot Hotel.
World Bank’s Robert Zoellick will be a senior fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center Robert B. Zoellick, whose five-year term as president of the World Bank ends June 30, will become a senior fellow at a research center at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Zoellick is set to join the school’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs in July. “I hope to work on the intersection of economics and security, applying history to policy questions of today,” he said in a statement.
A123 Systems will provide lithium-ion battery technology for aviation applications Mid-Continent Instrument Co. said Wednesday that it has signed a distribution and supply agreement with Waltham battery maker A123 Systems Inc. under which Mid-Continent will offer A123’s advanced Nanophosphate lithium-ion battery technology for aviation applications. With operations in Kansas, Mid-Continent manufactures and repairs aircraft instruments, avionics, and power solutions for the general aviation industry.
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