11-year veteran named Herald business editor

March 7, 2008

Frank Quaratiello has been named business editor for the Boston Herald. Quaratiello, who confirmed his appointment yesterday, replaces Greg Gatlin. Gatlin left the Herald last week to become director of public affairs for Suffolk University. Quaratiello, 40, has worked at the Herald for 11 years as a deputy business editor and copy desk chief. A graduate of Stanford University, he oversees a staff of seven but said he would be hiring a deputy business editor. (Kimberly Blanton)

Shares of Exact Sciences Corp., maker of a colon cancer screening test that's noninvasive, soared after the American Cancer Society recommended that the test should become one of the tools used to screen for the often-fatal form of cancer. Shares of the small Marlborough firm rose nearly 45 percent to $3.03. Exact Sciences' test involves collecting a stool sample at home and shipping it to a lab for testing. The lab analyzes DNA from the sample to see whether mutations are present that could indicate colon cancer. (AP)

Biotechnology company Genzyme Corp. launched its kidney disease treatment Renvela. The drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in October. It is a new version of the kidney disease drug Renagel, which was approved in 1998. Renvela is approved to control serum phosphorus in patients with chronic kidney disease on dialysis. Serum phosphorus is a chemical used by the body to get energy from food. Genzyme is also seeking approval for Renvela in Europe and for patients in the United States who are not going through dialysis treatment. Shares of Genzyme fell $2.56 to close at $72.37 on the Nasdaq Stock Market. (AP)

General Motors Corp. said chief executive Rick Wagoner will earn a salary of $2.2 million in 2008, restoring his base pay to the level it was before he took a pay cut in 2006 as part of the company's turnaround plan. GM said its board of directors voted to give the company's new president and chief operating officer, Fritz Henderson, a salary of $1.8 million. Wagoner accepted a pay cut in 2006, and his salary was $1.28 million that year. The company made a profit of $2.2 billion in 2006 despite continuing losses in North America. GM will release Wagoner's 2007 pay level later this spring. GM shares fell 62 cents, or nearly 3 percent, to close at $22.35 on the New York Stock Exchange. (AP)

Federal regulators said they will seek a civil penalty of $10.2 million - the largest ever - against Southwest Airlines Co. for failing to inspect older planes for cracks and then flying them before inspections were done. The FAA said Southwest operated nearly 60,000 flights in 2006 and 2007 using 46 planes that had not been inspected for possible fatigue-related cracking on the fuselage areas. The airline flew another 1,451 flights with the same planes in March 2007, even after discovering that it had failed to conduct the required inspections, the FAA charged. Southwest said it had complied with regulators' requests and would contest any fine. (AP)

Citing security risks, the Pentagon banned Google teams from making detailed street-level video maps of US military bases after images of a Texas base ended up on the popular Internet site. Air Force General Gene Renuart, chief of the US Northern Command, said he was concerned that allowing the 360-degree, street-level view could provide sensitive information to potential adversaries and endanger base personnel. (AP)

Dialysis patients in Germany have gotten sick using a different brand of the blood thinner heparin than was linked to 19 American deaths, US officials said, sparking concern that the problem could be more widespread than originally believed. In reaction, the Food and Drug Administration urged all US suppliers of heparin to start using some special high-tech tests to make sure their products are free of a contaminant that is the prime suspect for hundreds of allergic-type reactions linked to Baxter International's US-sold heparin injections. Baxter wasn't implicated in the German illnesses. (AP)