Foundation receives order for 65,000 of its laptops

The One Laptop Per Child Foundation has landed an order for 65,000 of its low-cost XO laptop computers from the state of Caldas in Colombia. The state government will take delivery of at least 15,000 machines this year, with the rest to be shipped by the end of 2009. Each laptop costs $188, making the deal worth more than $12 million. The Cambridge-based foundation sells its XO laptops mainly to governments in developing countries where they are given free to children. (Hiawatha Bray)

American Airlines Inc. will discontinue its daily flight between Boston and San Diego and reduce its thrice-daily service between Boston and San Juan to once a day on Sept. 3 as fuel costs continue to surge. This is part of the carrier's first round of service reductions, which will cut capacity about 11 percent - compared with the prior year - by year's end. Transcontinental flights are the most likely to be trimmed; they burn more fuel than shorter trips but often can't command much more for tickets. The airline will contact affected customers next week to accommodate them on other flights. (Nicole C. Wong)

Susan Windham-Bannister has been hired as president and chief executive of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center. She was managing vice president at Abt Bio-Pharma Solutions Inc., which provides research and other services to biotechnology, diagnostic, drug, and medical device companies. Her appointment follows a nearly seven-month search for someone to head the center, the quasipublic agency created by the Legislature in 2006 to promote the state's life sciences industries. (Mark Pothier)

Seven people have been indicted on charges they stole from Hopkinton-based Barry Controls. The Massachusetts attorney general's office said Kim Thomas, 42, of Boston, was a former accounts payable coordinator for the company. Prosecutors allege Thomas wrote dozens of unauthorized checks totaling more than $211,000 to the six other defendants. Also indicted were Thomas's boyfriend, Paul Harvey, 57; Harvey's brother, Frederick Harvey, 50, of Boston; Eugene Van Buren, 39, of Framingham; Nicholas Petta, 40, of Walpole; Charles Powell, 46, of Boston; and John Johnson, 45, a former Boston resident. (AP)

The Natick medical device maker Boston Scientific Corp. issued a statement following an order by a federal jury in Texas to pay $250 million to Medtronic Inc. for patent infringement. Boston Scientific said it "has raised a number of defenses that were not considered by this jury but will be heard by the District Court on July 31. If those defenses are successful, the jury's verdict will be set aside." The company also indicated that it would appeal the verdict, if necessary. (Chris Reidy)

Inverness Medical Innovations Inc., a medical test company, is talking with several private equity sponsors about a $1.8 billion joint venture involving three health-management businesses Inverness has acquired. The arrangement being discussed calls for Inverness to contribute the three companies to the venture and receive $1.2 billion in cash, Inverness said in a regulatory filing. The Waltham company would have a 50 percent interest in the venture, which would include Matria Healthcare Inc., acquired May 9; Alere Medical Inc., acquired in November; and Paradigm Health Inc., acquired in December. (Bloomberg)

Prescription drugs would carry new warnings about risks for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding under a proposal from the Food and Drug Administration. The changes would make prescribing information more consistent so doctors can decide which medicines are best for women of childbearing age, said commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach. The proposed rule would require prescribing information for every drug to include risks to a fetus and descriptions of the research on which it is based. The literature would also list risks to women taking the drug before they learn they are pregnant. For women who are breastfeeding, the information would include the amount of the drug found in mother's milk and potential effects on the child. (Bloomberg)