Biopure lays off 50, needs cash to stay open past fall

Biopure Corp., a Cambridge biotech company, said it laid off 50 employees, or about 60 percent of its staff, this week to slash expenses. But spokeswoman Tiana Gorham confirmed that even with the cuts, Biopure likely only has enough cash to last three months. Gorham said the company is trying to raise money to continue operations longer. Biopure has two products, one for animals and the other for humans, both made from cattle blood and refined to replenish oxygen-starved tissue. Biopure has US and European approval to market the veterinary product to treat anemia in dogs, but has struggled to get US approval for the human product. Shares fell 4 cents to 50 cents yesterday, far off the 52-week high of $4.85. (Todd Wallack)

Woburn biotechnology company ArQule Inc. named Dr. Brian Schwartz chief medical officer effective July 14, replacing Dr. Nigel Rulewski. He most recently worked as senior vice president of clinical and regulatory affairs and chief medical officer at Ziopharm Oncology Inc. Other personnel changes include the June 9 appointment of Paolo Pucci as chief executive and director, succeeding Stephen A. Hill, who left to take the president and CEO position at Solvay Pharmaceuticals. (AP)

Continental Airlines Inc., cutting 3,000 jobs as jet fuel soars, is offering workers health coverage for a year and free travel privileges for almost 15 years to encourage them to leave voluntarily. Pilots are in talks on a separate early-out program with the fourth-largest US carrier, a union spokesman said. Continental has 5,100 active pilots among its 45,000 employees. The offer fulfilled Continental's June 5 pledge to provide incentives for workers to depart before turning to layoffs. US carriers have said they will slash at least 10,300 jobs and boost fares and fees as record oil prices erode earnings. Continental is retiring 67 planes, dropping service to 15 cities worldwide, and trimming seating capacity 11 percent starting in September. (Bloomberg)

United Airlines said it will start requiring minimum stays for nearly all domestic coach trips beginning in October. It is also raising its cheapest fares by as much as $90 one-way. The second-largest US carrier said the moves are among a number of changes, including flight and job cutbacks, it is making to combat fuel costs. The carrier has been among the industry's most aggressive in pushing fares and fees higher in recent months, and those efforts have often been matched by other carriers. The industry is scrambling to raise revenue in a fight to forestall what is projected to be a record multibillion industrywide loss this year. (AP)

A federal judge ordered Microsoft Corp. to pay Alcatel-Lucent $511.6 million in damages and interest, letting stand a jury's decision that the software maker infringed two patents. Microsoft vowed to appeal the decision, which marked the latest move in a 5-year-old patent scuffle between the two companies. The world's largest software maker had asked the US District Court in San Diego to reconsider a federal jury's award in April to Alcatel-Lucent of $357.7 million in damages. The jury found that the software maker infringed a patent that covers how software users select a calendar date from a menu in certain programs, including Microsoft Outlook and Windows Mobile. The jury also awarded Alcatel-Lucent $10.4 million from Microsoft after finding the software maker infringed a patent related to the use of a stylus on a tablet computer. (AP)

The flooding in the Midwest has brought freight traffic on the upper Mississippi to a standstill, stranding more than 100 barges loaded with grain, cement, scrap metal, fertilizer, and other products. While the bottleneck is costing barge operators tens of thousands of dollars per day, June is a slow shipping period on the river compared with the late-summer harvest. The shutdown is expected to last only a few weeks, and primarily involves nonperishable goods. (AP)