Alkermes does not have to repay Chelsea tax break

Chelsea city manager Jay Ash said that Alkermes Inc. is under no obligation to repay state and local tax breaks it received to build a manufacturing plant in the city, despite the company's plans to shutter the plant and lay off 150 workers this week. Alkermes made the decision after its partner, Eli Lilly & Co., dropped plans to develop an inhalable form of insulin for diabetics that was being manufactured at the site. It's unclear how much money the company saved on taxes. "The company fulfilled its responsibilities to create and maintain jobs each year it was in operation here," Ash said. "Now that the company is closing its Chelsea facility, the local property tax relief will be withdrawn." (Todd Wallack)

Epix Pharmaceuticals Inc. shares shed more than half their value after the Lexington company stopped development of an experimental depression treatment. Epix said PRX-00023 was not effective in a midstage trial against clinical depression. Shares plunged $1.65, or 53.6 percent, to $1.43. In September, tests showed the drug was no better than a placebo at treating anxiety. (AP)

The Massachusetts unemployment rate remains below the national jobless figure, after holding steady at 4.5 percent in February. The state jobless rate posted last month and in January is up from December's rate of 4.3 percent, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development said. The nation's unemployment rate stood at 4.8 percent last month. (AP)

Ford Motor Co.'s latest buyout and early retirement offers likely will net far fewer hourly workers than the company is seeking, according to numbers provided by union officials at several factories. If the numbers fall short of the 8,000 that Ford wants, the company may not reach its cost-cutting goals as it restructures to shrink factory capacity to match lower demand for its vehicles. Industry analysts say that could mean more buyout offers or layoffs. United Auto Workers officials at four factories reported buyout and early retirement "take rates" ranging from 2.7 to 7.7 percent. The company offered 10 packages to all 54,000 US hourly employees represented by the UAW and was hoping around 15 percent would go. (AP)

A group of newspaper publishers said it was joining an industry-backed online advertising sales effort aimed at winning more business from national advertisers. The disclosure adds 26 newspaper companies as affiliates to an ad sales network launched last month by Gannett Co., Tribune Co., Hearst Corp., and The New York Times Co. The newspapers owned by the new affiliates to the venture called QuadrantOne effectively doubles the size of the network to about 250 newspapers. New members of QuadrantOne include several large newspaper companies including McClatchy Co., the number three US publisher by circulation; A.H. Belo Corp., owner of The Dallas Morning News; and Media General Inc. (AP)

The Bush administration said it had reached agreement with Abu Dhabi and Singapore that they will not use their huge government investment funds to further their political goals. The funds investments in US companies have raised concerns about the potential threats that large amounts of foreign investment could pose to the US economy and other industrial countries. A set of policy principles was released after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with officials from Abu Dhabi, home to the world's largest government investment fund, and Singapore. (AP)

Prominent attorney Melvyn Weiss has agreed to plead guilty to racketeering in a lucrative kickback scheme involving payments to plaintiffs in class-action lawsuits targeting some of the largest corporations in the nation, federal prosecutors said. Weiss, 72, also will acknowledge that he and others concealed secret payment arrangements that his firm, Milberg Weiss, had with named plaintiffs in the lawsuits. Under a plea deal, he could be sentenced to up to 33 months in prison and pay $10 million. Authorities said the firm made an estimated $250 million over two decades by filing legal actions on behalf of professional plaintiffs who received $11.3 million in kickbacks. (AP)