Biogen Idec CEO took 26% reduction in total pay in '07

Biogen Idec Inc. paid chief executive James Mullen $8.9 million in total compensation in 2007, a 26 percent decline from a year earlier, the company said. Mullen was paid a salary of $1.1 million, stock awards of $2.7 million, and other options and benefits of $5.1 million, according to a securities filing by the Cambridge-based company. Mullen's 2006 total compensation was $12.2 million, including stock awards of $5.8 million. Mullen's total compensation in 2007 was lower because he received a one-time grant of 100,000 shares in 2006, said a Biogen spokeswoman. (Bloomberg)

International Business Machines Corp., the second-biggest software maker, bought closely held Diligent Technologies Corp. of Framingham for programs that reduce the amount of duplicate information stored on computers in data centers. Diligent's deduplication software helps customers save money by reducing the number of storage computers they need, IBM said. Terms of the acquisition weren't disclosed. (Bloomberg)

Lexington biotechnology company Cubist Pharmaceuticals Inc. said first-quarter profit more than tripled, helped by higher demand for its products in the United States. Cubist markets Cubicin, an antibiotic used to treat bacterial infections of the skin. Net income rose to $17.9 million from $5.6 million. Revenue rose 48 percent to $88.3 million from $59.5 million last year. US product revenue rose 50 percent to $86.1 million. (AP)

Aetna Inc., Humana Inc., and more than 40 other providers of health insurance and managed-care plans sued the administrators of Merck & Co.'s $4.85 billion Vioxx settlement fund to find out who will get the money. BrownGreer PLC, the administrator, and U.S. Bancorp, the escrow agent, are overseeing a "rapid and secret" payout, making it impossible for insurers to identify participating policyholders and claim reimbursement, the companies said in a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court in New Orleans. Merck was not named as a party in the suit. (Bloomberg)

Coal in Eastern US spot markets climbed to a record for a second consecutive week as European power producers sought alternatives to costlier supplies from South Africa and Australia. Coal for delivery at the Big Sandy River, a benchmark for supplies from the Appalachian states, climbed $4, or 4.6 percent, to $91 a short ton, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. It was the highest for the region over 24 years of records. Coal, which fuels about half of US electricity generation, surged to records worldwide this year as storms and power shortages reduced exports from the largest producing regions, including South Africa, China, and Australia. (Bloomberg)

Time Warner Inc.'s AOL Internet unit plans to cut about 100 jobs as it integrates purchases of online advertising companies into its Platform A network for buying and selling ads. The job cuts will take place by the end of the month, Eric Chandler, an AOL spokesman, said. The reductions were reported earlier by The Wall Street Journal. AOL will employ 1,500 at Platform A, Chandler said. (Bloomberg)

South Korea agreed to resume beef imports from the United States, ending a ban begun in 2003 over concerns about mad cow disease. The decision removed a major dispute between the allies, hours before President Bush was to meet South Korea's new president, Lee Myung-bak, in Washington. The deal clears an important obstacle to congressional support for a wider free trade deal the Bush administration has struck with South Korea. (New York Times News Service)