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Mon. Mar. 26, 2012 Everything must go: Former Macy’s building to be razed at Chestnut Hill shopping center The former Macy’s building in Chestnut Hill is scheduled for demolition on Wednesday to make room for the second phase of redevelopment work at the Chestnut Hill Shopping Center. The 130-square-foot space will be used for The Sports Club/LA, fitness center, a state-of-the-art cinema, and new stores. The second phase of the project will also include the renovation of the former Rugged Bear store space and the razing of a building at 33 Boylston St.	Advertisement
Mass. Senate unveils energy bill The Massachusetts Senate is proposing to cap rate increases and require utilities to buy more power from small-scale producers as part of an effort to control the high cost of electricity in the state. The bill, which was unveiled today, would also allow hydroelectric power to count towards the Commonwealth’s renewable and alternative energy generation goals as measured by the Green Communities Act of 2008.
Sanofi-Regeneron drug lowers cholesterol up to 72 percent in study An experimental drug from Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. lowered patients’ so-called bad cholesterol by as much as 72 percent on top of Lipitor in a company-funded study. (Last year, French drug maker Sanofi bought Genzyme Corp. of Cambridge for $20.1 billion.) The medicine, one in a class of drugs targeting the PCSK9 gene, reduced patients’ average LDL cholesterol levels to as little as 34 milligrams per deciliter after 12 weeks in the mid- stage study.
John Hancock readies new ad campaign with the theme of, ‘You Are Not Alone’ John Hancock Financial Services said Monday that it plans to launch an ad campaign later this month with the theme of, ‘‘You Are Not Alone.” This is the first campaign under Boston-based Hancock’s new chief marketing officer, David Longfritz. Boston ad agency Hill Holliday created the campaign. The campaign will be seen on TV and online. It continues the company’s tradition of using ads that feature consumers having “intimate conversations” about their personal finances.
Mass. gas prices rise another 3 cents a gallon The average price for gas in Massachusetts is $3.769 per gallon in the latest weekly survey from AAA, up 3 cents from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said. The current national average is $3.89 a gallon. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average was $3.46 a gallon, AAA Southern New England said. AAA’s weekly surveys focus on the price of self-serve, regular unleaded gas.
Tracelytics secures $5.2m in Series A financing Tracelytics, a software company opening an office in Boston, announced Monday the close of a $5.2 million Series A financing round led by Bain Capital Ventures. Existing seed investors Google Ventures, Battery Ventures, and Flybridge Capital Partners also participated in the round. Tracelytics helps businesses manage their Web applications. According to Tracelytics, its application-performance-management software as a service solution offers customers insights into the performance of their web applications, in part by revealing bottlenecks and potential improvements.
MassChallenge explores replicating start-up competition in Israel MassChallenge Inc., the Boston-based nonprofit offering more than $1 million in prizes to promising start-ups, said it is teaming up with the New England-Israel Business Council to explore whether such a program can be replicated in Israel. MassChallenge recently launched its third annual contest open to any innovative start-up that has the potential to invigorate the economy and create new jobs. Winning start-ups participate in a three-month “accelerator program” that includes mentoring, free office space, access to funding, and legal advice.
A123 scrambles to replace defective batteries A123 Systems Inc., the Waltham-based company that develops and manufactures batteries, has discovered a mechanical defect in some of the cells that make up the car batteries it produces at a plant in Michigan, the company said Monday, and will begin shipping replacements to five affected customers this week. A123 said it expects that the cost of replacing the affected customer modules and packs will be $55 million; it added that it expects the costs to be funded over the next several quarters.
Raytheon: Upgraded Patriot passed flight test with flying colors Raytheon Co., the Waltham-based defense contractor with $25 billion in 2011 sales, said it has successfully completed a flight test of its upgraded Patriot air and missile defense system. The new Patriot system features vastly improved computing power and increased radar processing efficiency. As a result, it is better equipped to defeat smaller and faster targets. In the test, the Patriot system “searched, detected, and tracked an air-breathing target flying at a low altitude in a high-clutter environment.”
CVS Caremark mistakenly sends personal information about drugs and medical conditions to wrong members of Medicare prescription plan CVS Caremark Corp. said Friday that it mistakenly sent letters to about 3,500 Tufts Health Plan members, giving them personal information about the medical conditions and medications of other members enrolled in a supplemental Medicare plan managed by Tufts. The mistake was due to an unspecified “programming error,” CVS Caremark, pharmacy benefits manager for the Tufts Medicare Preferred Plan, said in a statement. “We are monitoring this situation,” said Sonya Hagopian, vice president at Tufts Health Plan.
Four developers propose to build on property next to Greenway Four developers submitted bids Friday to develop a state-owned parcel along the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway in Boston, with one proposing a museum focused on the city’s history and three others pitching mixed-use buildings with residences, retail shops and a hotel.
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