Genzyme posts profit of $107m in 4th quarter

Genzyme Corp. reported fourth-quarter earnings of $107 million on sales of $729 million, slightly more than the $722 million in sales it forecast in January. The Cambridge biotechnology company, which makes replacement enzymes for patients with rare diseases, reported 2005 sales of $2.7 billion, up from $2.2 billion in 2004. Chief executive Henri Termeer confirmed that the company's next major enzyme drug could be approved by the Food and Drug Administration by the end of April. He also said Genzyme's most significant development programs are for drugs to fight multiple sclerosis and an infectious bacterium called c. difficile. The quarter's $107 million in earnings compared to a $157 million loss for the same quarter last year, when the company took special charges related to its purchase of Ilex Oncology. (Stephen Heuser)

Simmon Colleges gets zoning OK for construction

The Boston Zoning Commission approved construction of a five-story, environmentally friendly building on the Simmons College campus in the Fenway, along with an open-space quad that will replace a parking lot. The $80.5 million, 66,500-square-foot building near Palace Road will house the School of Management and provide underground parking. The design is by the Boston office of Cannon Design. The management school is now housed in several buildings on Commonwealth Avenue. (Thomas C. Palmer Jr.)

THE NATION
Restructuring results in $30m earnings boost

Hewlett-Packard's fiscal first-quarter profit jumped 30 percent as the printer and computer company saw cost-saving benefits from last year's restructuring and strong sales across its product lines. For the three months ended Jan. 31, HP earned $1.2 billion, or 42 cents per share, compared with a profit of $943 million, or 32 cents per share, in the same period last year. Sales rose 6 percent, to $22.7 billion in the first quarter from $21.5 billion from the year-ago period. Excluding one-time items, HP earned $1.39 billion, or 49 cents per share, compared with a profit of $1.08 billion, or 37 cents per share, in the first quarter of fiscal 2005. (AP)

Ex-CA CEO Kumar accused of destroying evidence

Sanjay Kumar, the former chief executive of CA Inc. who was indicted in 2004 amid a $2.2 billion accounting scandal, has been accused of reformatting his laptop's hard drive to effectively destroy potential evidence, according to documents released by the US Attorney's office. In a letter filed Feb. 2 with the US District Court in Eastern New York, the US Attorney's office said it would submit evidence showing Kumar reformatted his laptop to run the Linux operating system, effectively wiping out the computer's memory. The letter states the reformatting occurred after the government probe began and after the company issued memorandums directing CA employees to preserve relevant evidence. Kumar's attorney said the latest allegations involving evidence destruction are baseless. (Reuters)

Cellular service provider to sell phones for website

The social networking site MySpace, hugely successful among teenagers and twentysomethings, is about to become more ubiquitous with the launch of a cellular service that will let users read and post to the site for free. The service and two accompanying phones will be launched in a few months by Helio LLC, a joint venture of Internet service provider Earthlink and South Korean carrier SK Telecom. On MySpace, users keep personal pages with journals, communicate with friends, and play games. It's a formula that has attracted more than 54 million users and the attention of media conglomerate News Corp., which bought the site last year for $580 million. SK Telecom owns the Korean equivalent of MySpace, called Cyworld, that can be accessed from cellphones. (AP)

Plan proposed to end some drug industry tactics

The pharmaceutical industry would lose methods used to delay some approvals of generic versions of their medicines if Senator Trent Lott gets legislation passed. The Mississippi Republican and Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, introduced a measure to close loopholes that drug makers can use to delay generic competition. The legislation already has the support of entities from General Motors to AARP, a lobbying group for older Americans. Generic drugs cost 30 percent to 80 percent less than branded products. For every 1 percent increase in use of these knockoff drugs, consumers could save $4 billion annually, the Generic Pharmaceutical Association said. (Bloomberg)