FDA to review Amag drug for chronic kidney disease

Biopharmaceutical company Amag Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration will review its experimental treatment ferumoxytol. Amag is seeking marketing approval for ferumoxytol as an intravenous treatment of iron-deficiency anemia in patients with chronic kidney disease. The Cambridge company expects FDA action on the new drug application by late October. (AP)

GMAC LLC, the lender partially owned by General Motors Corp., plans to close about 75 percent of its auto financing offices in the United States and Canada after losing $2.3 billion last year. GMAC will reduce the number of offices serving US auto dealers to four and eliminate three of four outlets in Canada, said Barbara Stokel, executive vice president of North American operations, in a letter scheduled to be sent to dealers today. GMAC had 16 regional auto lending offices in the United States, according to a May 17 statement. The plan to cut North American field operations follows a Jan. 22 letter to investors in GMAC's majority owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP, that predicted GMAC may run into "substantial difficulty" if credit markets fail to improve. (Bloomberg)

MBIA Inc. brought back former chief executive Joseph Brown to run the company and will consider splitting in two after record losses on subprime debt prompted an 83 percent slump in the share price and put its AAA credit ratings in jeopardy. Brown said the world's largest bond insurer may separate its municipal business from guarantees on subprime mortgage securities, which caused a net loss of $2.3 billion last quarter. Gary Dunton, who succeeded Brown as CEO in 2004 and has resisted pressure to restructure the company, will leave, MBIA said. (Bloomberg)

Walt Disney Co.'s online division formed a team to focus on building and publishing games, virtual worlds, and social communities based on its films, TV shows, and cartoon characters. Disney Online Studios will accelerate development of entertainment for kids and families, Walt Disney Internet Group said. The new team includes Disney's Virtual Reality Studio, which created virtual world ToonTown.com. Disney chief executive Robert Iger has been expanding the Internet operations, buying the online community "Club Penguin" in August for $350 million. (Bloomberg)

A federal judge has set off a free speech tempest after shutting down a US website for posting internal documents accusing a Cayman Islands' bank branch of money laundering and tax evasion schemes. The Bank Julius Baer & Co. said in papers filed in US District Court in San Francisco that a disgruntled executive fired for "misconduct" stole the documents and illegally posted them on wikileaks.org. The bank, based in Zurich, sued Wikileaks and its San Mateo, Calif., hosting company Dynadot on Feb. 6, alleging the website had posted stolen and confidential financial data. Dynadot agreed to shut down the site and bar Wikileaks from transferring the domain name to another host. US District Court Judge Jeffrey White issued a formal ruling the next day. Dynadot officials didn't return phone calls yesterday. (AP)

A judge has slashed a $134 million jury award to three Nevada women who claimed that Prempro, a drug made by pharmaceutical company Wyeth, caused their breast cancer. Washoe County, Nevada District Court Judge Robert Perry granted the drug maker's motion to find the damages excessive. He ordered them reduced to about $58 million total - $23 million in compensatory and $35 million in punitive damages. (AP)

The European Commission has asked for information on pricing practices by candy makers, a signal that regulators across the globe are taking a broader look into allegations of an industrywide price-fixing scheme. In its annual report, Hershey Co. said it has fielded a request for information from the EC. A spokeswoman for Mars Inc. also said her company received a request from the body in mid-January. Both companies said they are cooperating, and declined to say what kind of information was requested. (AP)