Yawkey Center building dedicated
Officials dedicated the Yawkey Center for Outpatient Care, a 10-story, 400,000-square-foot addition to Massachusetts General Hospital that opened Tuesday with 1,200 patients being seen on the first day. The $219 million glass and steel building on Cambridge Street, with underground parking for 725 cars, is the largest ambulatory care facility in New England. The project began more than two years ago with a $25 million gift from the Yawkey Foundation, named after the late Boston Red Sox owners Tom and Jean Yawkey. Construction of a hotel is about to begin on the adjacent site of the former Charles Street jail. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)
Coffee company expands into China
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc. entered into an agreement that makes Green Mountain Co. Ltd. the exclusive importer and distributor of Green Mountain Coffee in Hong Kong and China. Green Mountain Co., which is not affiliated with the coffee maker, plans to open five retail coffee shops next year in the Shanghai area. The company also plans to sell to restaurants, hotels, and other coffee shops, said Claudia Lovell, international sales manager. Green Mountain Coffee spokesman Rick Peyser characterized the deal as a first step in a potentially large market for the Waterbury, Vt., coffee company. Neither Peyser nor Lovell would offer specifics about the potential market in China for Green Mountain Coffee. Green Mountain Coffee sales last year were $116.7 million. International business is about 1 percent of sales, Peyser said. (AP)
Canada OK's Biogen Idec psoriasis drug
Health Canada authorized Biogen Idec Inc.'s psoriasis treatment, Amevive, for sale in Canada. Amevive will be marketed for the treatment of patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy, Biogen said. The biologic treatment was approved in the United States in 2003 and was approved this year in Israel and Australia. Revenue from Amevive was $12 million in the second quarter ended June 30. Biogen posted total revenue of $538.8 million for the period. (Dow Jones)
Stop & Shop extends test of IBM carts
Stop & Shop Supermarket Co., the largest grocer in New England, plans to test more shopping carts made by IBM that help customers find items and track purchases as they shop. The "Shopping Buddy" cart includes a wireless, touch-screen IBM computer with a laser scanner for shoppers to scan groceries. The devices have software from closely held Cuesol Inc. that receives e-mailed grocery lists, notifies shoppers about promotions, and places the customer's deli orders. Quincy-based Stop & Shop, a unit of Ahold NV, has 350 stores in New England and tested the carts in three Boston-area stores. It plans to expand the test to 20 more stores in the first quarter. (Bloomberg)
THE NATION
EU expands probe over Intel chips
The European Union's head office expanded its probe into whether EU governments are illegally requiring that the computers they buy must contain microprocessors made by Intel Corp. The European Commission sent formal notices to France, the Netherlands, Finland, and Sweden seeking information on public tenders for computers that either require they contain Intel chips or specify a chip speed only the US giant can provide. Similar letters were sent this year to Italy and Germany and their replies are now being evaluated. The commission said it believes such requirements violate European law on public procurement. "You can specify the performance you are looking for in a particular computer problem, but not a specification that can only be met by one manufacturer," said commission spokesman Jonathan Todd. The investigation was sparked by Intel's chief US rival, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which said it complained to the EU about procurement tenders in several member states. (AP)
2d-largest US bank mulling acquisitions
JPMorgan Chase & Co. president Jamie Dimon said he may make acquisitions to boost the company's consumer and commercial-banking franchises in the United States and abroad. "In the US, the obvious gaps are regional, both retail and commercial banking -- California being an obvious one, Florida being a second," Dimon said to the Economic Club of Chicago. "Overseas, we are not in the consumer business. You could imagine going into the emerging markets by buying banks." Dimon, the former top lieutenant of Citigroup Inc. chairman Sanford Weill, returned to New York in July as JPMorgan's president following the second-largest US bank's $57 billion acquisition of Bank One. In less than four months, the 48-year-old executive has reorganized the bank's management team, fired outside vendors, slashed costs, and bought a stake in a hedge-fund manager to stem a profit drop. (Bloomberg)
S.F. hotel workers end 2-week strike
Thousands of workers at 14 hotels in San Francisco ended a two-week strike, but operators imposed a lockout until a contract dispute is settled. Unionized workers who showed up at two hotels were met by police or security guards. The workers resumed picketing after managers said they were enforcing the work stoppage. "Without an agreement, there is no assurance that union leadership won't call additional strikes," said Matthew Adams, vice president of the San Francisco Multi-Employer Group, which represents the hotels. The union represents housekeepers, cooks, bellmen, and other service staff. The contract expired in August, and a work stoppage at four of the hotels began Sept. 29. The sides are scheduled to meet today. (AP)
Piper Jaffray to spin off VC business
Piper Jaffray Cos., a brokerage and investment bank, said it will spin off its venture capital business to a new company called Sightline Partners. Buzz Benson, a Piper Jaffray venture capital managing director, will run Sightline, the company said. The new company, to be spun off in the fourth quarter, will manage Piper Jaffray's four healthcare funds, with $225 million of committed capital. Piper Jaffray's second-quarter earnings included a $1 million gain on a venture investment that sold shares to the public, the company said in July. (Bloomberg)
Dr Pepper to sell cherry vanilla soda
Dr Pepper is adding a cherry vanilla flavor, the second recent addition to the venerable soda maker's lineup. The company said regular and diet versions of Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper will initially debut in Texas and nearby states. The diet version will go nationwide in January. Dr Pepper is owned by Cadbury Schweppes PLC. Its brands also include 7UP and A&W Root Beer. (AP)
. . .Etc.
Boston Scientific Corp. said the Food and Drug Administration approved its IQ guide wire. The company said it plans to launch the product immediately. Guide wires are thin, flexible wires that surgeons use to place devices such as catheters . . . Medical device maker Inamed Corp. and biotech company Genzyme Corp. said the Food and Drug Administration approved dermal gel filler Hylaform Plus for the correction of moderate and severe facial wrinkles and folds. Genzyme originally developed Hylaform Plus and Inamed serves as the worldwide marketer and distributor. (Globe wire services)
