Travelers to trim positions in Fall River, 3 other posts

Travelers Cos., the St. Paul-based insurer of homes, cars, and businesses, is cutting 325 jobs as it consolidates operations amid declining profit margins. The insurer is eliminating positions in Fall River, Malton, N.J., Glens Falls, N.Y., and Houston, said a company spokeswoman. The firings are in the business that covers individuals' homes and cars, she said. Travelers will continue to employ 365 people in Fall River in jobs including sales, marketing, finance, and technology, she said. (Bloomberg)

Great Moves, a treatment center for overweight children and adolescents, opened in Newton. The six-month program includes exercise, nutrition education, counseling, and cooking for overweight kids and their parents. Clinical director Suzanne Rostler is the senior dietitian at the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital in Boston. The center, on Needham Street, will hold an open house May 20. Speakers will include Dr. David Ludwig, director of the Optimal Weight for Life program at Children's Hospital. (Jeffrey Krasner)

Medical-device maker Boston Scientific Corp. said the Japanese government approved its Acuity Steerable ventricular lead, an electrode system that can be placed within the heart by snaking it through blood vessels. The Natick company also received reimbursement approval for the lead from the National Health Insurance System and plans to launch it immediately in Japan. (AP)

Genentech Inc. and Cambridge-based Biogen Idec Inc.'s cancer drug Rituxan failed to slow the disabling effects of the most difficult form of multiple sclerosis in a large clinical trial. Rituxan failed to reach its main goal of slowing the disability for people with primary progressive multiple sclerosis during 96 weeks of treatment, compared with a placebo, Genentech said. If the trial had succeeded, it would have made Rituxan the first drug to work against the primary progressive form of MS. Rituxan, a blood-cancer drug that's also approved for rheumatoid arthritis, generated $2.29 billion in US sales in 2007. (Bloomberg)

General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, might cut production of large sport-utility vehicles and pickups by 23 percent this year amid a supplier strike and dwindling demand, analysts said. The affected models include GM's Chevrolet Silverado truck and Cadillac Escalade SUV, according to Lehman Brothers's Brian Johnson and JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Himanshu Patel. Further declines in sales and production of the highly profitable vehicles may damage GM's North American turnaround effort as it seeks to recover from a $39 billion loss in 2007. GM's North American output of big trucks and SUVs may fall to 1.18 million, wrote Johnson. They account for roughly one in three vehicles the automaker sells in the United States. (Bloomberg)

Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. lost an appeal to revive a patent-infringement lawsuit over Perrigo Co.'s plan to sell generic copies of their antacid Pepcid Complete. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit affirmed a lower-court ruling that the patent on the medicine is invalid. J&J's McNeil unit and Merck, which have a joint venture for over-the-counter drugs, sued in 2005 to block the generic until the patent expires in 2013. J&J and Merck representatives didn't immediately return calls. The companies don't break out sales of Pepcid Complete. A Perrigo spokesman said "this clears our path to launch" the generic version. (Bloomberg)

The television age appears to have faded somewhat for Philips, the Dutch company that carries a global reputation for its home electronics. Sagging TV sales, especially in the United States, dragged down first-quarter profits, as Royal Philips Electronics NV reported net income of $347 million, nearly 20 percent lower than analysts had forecast. Net profit was down 75 percent from $1.39 billion in same period last year - a period boosted by a $1.16 billion sale of a semiconductor manufacturer. Chief financial officer Pierre-Jean Sivignon said "the US remains the black spot, but when we look at the quarter it was tough all across."