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Mon. Oct. 01, 2012 Nuance Communications buys J.A. Thomas and Associates Nuance Communications Inc., a Burlington company known for its Dragon speech recognition software, said Monday that it has made another acquisition --- this time of J.A. Thomas and Associates, a provider of doctor-oriented, clinical documentation improvement programs for the health care industry. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. Based in Atlanta, J.A. Thomas and Associates, or JATA, manages programs for more than 500 hospitals.	Advertisement
Fidelity’s Abigail Johnson will be among those honored as a ‘New Englander of the Year’ Abigail P. Johnson, president of Fidelity Financial Services, will be among the recipients of a “New Englander of the Year” presented by the New England Council, a regional business organization, at an awards ceremony later this week in Boston. Other award recipients this year include US Representative John Larson of Connecticut, SBLI chief executive Robert Sheridan, and historian and author David McCullough.
New TV ad gives another salute to 100th anniversary of Fenway Park A new TV ad titled “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” has begun airing on NESN, and it was developed for the Red Sox by a collaboration between Brickyard VFX, a firm specializing in visual effects, and ad agency Conover Tuttle Pace. Both firms have offices in Boston. To produce the TV ad, its creators delved into the team archives to find photos of several generations of Sox fans taking one of their children to their first game.
Dutch consulting firm Qserve opens Cambridge office Qserve Group, a Dutch consulting firm specializing in medical device regulations, has opened a US headquarters office at the Cambridge Innovation Center, the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center said Monday. The center is a quasi-public agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Its mission is to promote the life sciences in the Bay State. Qserve is already recruiting senior-level regulatory professionals for its Cambridge location, the center said. Qserve seeks to accelerate time-to-market for its clients’ medical devices in the US, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.
Mass. gas prices rise 1 cent a gallon The average price for gas in Massachusetts is $3.849 a gallon in the latest weekly AAA survey, up 1 cent from the previous week’s average, AAA Southern New England said Monday. Prices locally are up 8 cents over the past month. The current national average for gas is $3.78 a gallon, AAA Southern New England said. A year ago at this time, the Massachusetts average price was $3.45.
Alexandria Real Estate announces four leases at 400 Technology Square in Cambridge Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc., a real estate investment trust focused on the life sciences industry, announced Monday four recent lease transactions at 400 Technology Square, which is in the final stages of a complete redevelopment. Companies signing leases at the Cambridge property include the Ragon Institute, Epizyme Inc., Warp Drive Bio LLC, and Aramco Services Co. All together, those leases account for about 162,000 square feet of space.
Boston Consulting Group survey: Chinese consumers are upbeat, US consumers not so much Chinese consumers remain optimistic despite an economic slowdown, according to a new survey of consumers in China, the US, and the UK. The survey is from the Boston Consulting Group, a global management consulting firm. About 40 percent of Chinese consumers said that they are planning to spend more money in the next 12 months than they did in the past 12 months. That contrasts with the US and the UK, where the figure was 9 percent.
Pumpkin mocha joe? In honor of National Coffee Day, Dunkin’ Donuts debuts new flavors National Coffee Day is Saturday, and in its honor, Dunkin’ Donuts said it is unveiling two new flavors to its line-up of seasonal beverages --- Pumpkin Mocha and Pumpkin White Chocolate. For a limited time, Pumpkin Mocha and Pumpkin White Chocolate are available both as coffee and latte flavors, Dunkin’ said, and they can be ordered either hot or iced.
City of Lowell, Ameresco break ground on new solar installation Ameresco Inc. said it hosted a Friday ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start of construction of a solar installation at a landfill site in Lowell. “More than 6,000 solar panels will soon revitalize the City of Lowell’s capped landfill site on Westford Street, transforming an under-utilized open space to a modern green-energy site that will generate electricity cost savings for the city,” Framingham-based Ameresco said.
Have a black belt in social media marketing? You may want to sign up for the ‘Dunkin’ Donuts Start-up Turbo Shot’ challenge Think of it as an elevator-pitch competition for social media marketing ideas, only with some of the pitches submitted by video. That seems to be the idea behind a Friday announcement from Dunkin’ Donuts and its ad agency, Hill Holliday of Boston. In a press release, the two said they are sponsoring a competition --- dubbed the Dunkin’ Donuts Start-up Turbo Shot --- that asks start-ups from across the country to devise a plan that will help make Dunkin’ “the most social brand in America.”
AVEO seeks FDA approval for drug designed to treat advanced kidney cancer AVEO Oncology of Cambridge and Japanese drug maker Astellas Pharma Inc. said Friday that AVEO has submitted a new drug application to the US Food and Drug Administration for a potential treatment for advanced kidney cancer. Their drug candidate is called tivozanib, and the companies said they are seeking FDA approval to market in the US as a treatment for patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma, or RCC, a technical name for advanced kidney cancer.
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