Biogen Idec raises price 8.9% on MS drug Avonex

Biogen Idec Inc. has raised the wholesale price of one of its flagship drugs, Avonex, for the fifth time in two years, according to a note by JPMorgan analyst Geoffrey Meacham. The Cambridge biotech increased the price for the multiple sclerosis drug 8.9 percent on Nov. 8. Meacham said that nearly matches a recent 9.5 percent increase for rival drug, Rebif, made by Rockland-based EMD Serono Inc. Avonex now costs about $27,000 for a year's supply, about $1,000 less than Rebif. Biogen Idec's price increases for Avonex have helped it squeeze additional revenue out of the 12-year-old drug, even as it faces competition from newer treatments. The company said Avonex sales rose 26 percent in the third quarter to $573 million. (Todd Wallack)

Diagnostic technology company Hologic Inc. said large charges tied to an acquisition wiped out the profit for its fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 27. The Bedford company posted a loss of $144 million, or 56 cents per share, compared with a profit of $32 million, or 29 cents per share, in the same quarter last year. Revenue more than doubled to $442.5 million in the quarter, versus $202.6 million a year ago. Charges of more than $200 million were related to its July 24 acquisition of Third Wave Technologies. Hologic reported adjusted net income of $77 million, or 30 cents per share, not counting those and other charges. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 30 cents per share on $438.6 million in revenue. Such estimates generally exclude one-time items. (AP)

National Wholesale Liquidators Inc., a family-owned discount retailer, sought bankruptcy protection from creditors without giving a reason. The company, based in West Hempstead, N.Y., listed assets and debt of $100 million to $500 million each in Chapter 11 documents filed in US Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Del. Sixty-two affiliates also filed, according to court documents. The company, founded in 1984, carries more than 120,000 items including brand-name closeouts. Its more than 50 stores are located in suburban shopping plazas in 10 states including Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The 20 largest creditors without collateral backing their claims are owed a total of $12.9 million, court papers show. National Wholesale officials didn't immediately respond to a message seeking comment. (Bloomberg)

Viacom Inc., owner of the MTV cable networks and the Paramount film studio, renewed a lease to keep its headquarters in a Times Square skyscraper through at least 2015. The company agreed to continue renting 1.3 million square feet at 1515 Broadway, landlord SL Green Realty Corp. said. The lease is the third-biggest ever signed in Midtown Manhattan, SL Green said. Viacom has been in the building since 1989, and had been considering other headquarters options for more than two years. The lease on about 1.1 million square feet of its current space was to have expired in 2010, according to SL Green. Terms were not disclosed. (Bloomberg)

National Public Radio said its board has named Vivian Schiller, general manager of The New York Times' website, NPR's president and chief executive. Schiller, also a senior vice president with The New York Times Co., will fill NPR's top executive roles effective Jan. 5. She succeeds Dennis Haarsager, who became interim CEO in March after Ken Stern stepped down. Schiller, 47, has more than 20 years of experience in the news media. At The New York Times, she led day-to-day operations of the paper's website. (AP)

The Bush administration is moving to finalize regulations to enforce a law that seeks to block Internet gambling. The move is drawing protests from Democratic lawmakers and supporters of online betting. Representative Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, wrote this week to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson asking him to postpone the regulation, which was reviewed by the White House budget office last week, usually a final step before publication in the Federal Register. At issue is a law Congress passed hastily in 2006 when Senate Republicans, pushed by then-majority leader Bill Frist, attached it to an unrelated port security bill in a rush of year-end legislation. The law sought to curb online gambling by prohibiting financial institutions from accepting payments from credit cards, checks, or electronic fund transfers to settle online wagers. (AP)