Alnylam Pharmaceuticals narrows 1st-quarter loss

Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s share rose 9 percent after the Cambridge biotechnology company posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and strong revenue growth. Shares surged $2.28 to $27.67. The loss was $1.2 million, or 3 cents per share, compared with a loss of $21.6 million, or 58 cents, in the year-ago period. Revenue tripled to $22.2 million from $7.2 million. The results handily beat estimates of analysts polled by Thomson Financial, who expected a loss of 14 cents on revenue of $19.3 million. Alnylam said its strong results were due primarily to its partnership with Roche which began in the third quarter of 2007 and gave the Swiss drug maker access to Alnylam's gene-silencing technology. Alnylam said it received $13.4 million in collaboration revenue during the quarter as part of the alliance. (AP)

More developers say they are going green. In a report on the Boston laboratory market, commercial real estate agency Richards Barry Joyce & Partners found most new lab construction is designed to meet environmentally friendly building standards called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED. The report estimated as much as 30 percent of the lab space in Greater Boston could be LEED certified within three years as buildings open. It also found lab vacancy rates edged up slightly to 12.1 percent in the spring because of new construction. (Todd Wallack)

Cambridge-based Elixir Pharmaceuticals Inc. has canceled its plans for an initial public offering, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. The drug maker did not disclose a reason for withdrawing its registration, but cancellations have increased this year as market turmoil has dampened investor appetite for new issues. Elixir first registered for an IPO in September 2007. The company had expected to raise about $67.1 million from the offering, after fees and expenses. (AP)

A report that Sovereign Bancorp Inc. will raise up to $2 billion to offset losses on troubled loans led an analyst to boost his rating, but cut estimates. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Robert Hughes upgraded Sovereign to "market perform" from "underperform." He kept a $7 price target, implying he expects the stock to slide about 6 percent from Thursday's $7.46 close. The Financial Times reported Thursday that Sovereign will get a $1 billion to $2 billion capital infusion from a group of investors led by Spain's Grupo Santander. A Sovereign spokesman declined to comment. (AP)

Wachovia Corp. chief executive Kennedy Thompson, under fire for buying a California lender as the housing market peaked in 2006, was stripped of his role as chairman of the fourth-largest US bank. Lanty Smith will become nonexecutive chairman, Wachovia said. Thompson, 57, remains on the board and retains full management responsibility, a spokeswoman said. A group of shareholders demanded at last month's annual meeting that Thompson quit after the bank posted its first quarterly loss since 2001 because of write-downs of securities backed by subprime loans and rising home loan defaults. Thompson said this year that Wachovia's $24 billion purchase of Golden West Financial Corp. in 2006 was "ill-timed." (Bloomberg)

Billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian said he may boost his Ford Motor Co. stake above 5.5 percent and provide cash for the automaker's revival, signaling increased confidence in chief executive Alan Mulally. Kerkorian's Tracinda Corp. made the disclosures as it followed through with a plan to offer $170 million for an additional 20 million shares. Kerkorian, 90, also said he bid last year to buy Ford's Jaguar and Land Rover brands which were sold to Tata Motors of India, and that he has been asked by chairman William Clay Ford Jr. to discuss his stake. Ford's board is reviewing Kerkorian's tender offer. (Bloomberg)