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Partners Healthcare, HP to collaborate
Partners Healthcare will collaborate with Hewlett Packard Co. to incorporate patients' genetic information into research and treatment. HP will provide computers, software, and researchers to assist Partners' research into so-called personalized medicine through its Center for Genetics and Genomics, which is affiliated with Harvard University. Terms weren't disclosed. Partners, the parent of Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women's Hospital, said it plans to use genetic information to facilitate more detailed diagnoses and more effective treatments in a variety of diseases. (Jeffrey Krasner)Health insurers help pay for flu vaccines
Massachusetts health insurers donated more than $1.4 million to the state health department to buy flu vaccines after the Legislature cut funding for the program. The Legislature allowed enough money to buy 350,000 doses this year, 218,000 fewer than last winter. Donations by health plans, including Aetna, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Fallon Community Health Plan, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Health New England, Neighborhood Health Plan, and Tufts Health Plan allowed state health officials to buy 568,000 doses. Dr. Marylou Buyse, president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, said the United States saves an estimated $47 in medical costs and time lost from work for each person vaccinated. (Liz Kowalczyk)2 union locals merge into bargaining unit
Two locals of the Service Employees International Union will merge tomorrow to create a single, statewide healthcare bargaining unit representing 12,000 nurses, technicians, nurses aides, dietary workers, cooks, and medical transportation employees. Called SEIU Local 2020, the organization combines locals 285 and 767, said union spokesman Rand Wilson. "This will help create an organization that can effectively work to improve wages, working conditions, and the quality of care," he said. (Diane E. Lewis)Enterasys lowers third-quarter forecast
Enterasys Networks Inc. said delayed purchasing decisions by customers in the final week of the third quarter will cut revenue below expectations. The Andover-based network infrastructure company also said it won't be profitable or have positive cash flow in the fourth quarter, although it expects to reach those goals in the near term. Enterasys now expects third-quarter revenue to be off 8 to 13 percent from the second quarter's $108.4 million. That suggests revenue of $94.3 million to $99.7 million. Analysts expected a third-quarter loss of 4 cents a share, excluding items, and a fourth-quarter per-share loss of 1 cent, according to Thomson First Call. (Dow Jones) THE NATION
US sues pharmacy benefit company
Federal prosecutors accused the nation's biggest pharmacy benefit-management company of defrauding clients by destroying prescriptions, switching patients' medications without their consent, and giving favorable treatment to drug companies that paid hefty rebates. A lawsuit filed in Philadelphia accuses Medco Health Solutions of altering prescription records to avoid paying late penalties in its mail-order business and steering customers to drugs made by its former parent company, Merck, instead of to competitors' less-expensive products. Medco officials immediately called the charges either false or overstated, but acknowledged some violations cited in the complaint occurred, saying they were isolated incidents that happened years ago and have since been corrected. (AP)Consumer spending rose 0.8% in Aug.
Consumers treated themselves in August and spent with gusto, good news for the economy's revival. The Commerce Department reported consumer spending increased by a strong 0.8 percent last month on top of an even bigger 0.9 percent advance in July as larger paychecks and other incentives from President Bush's third tax cut began to take hold. Disposable incomes, or what's left after taxes, advanced by 0.9 percent in August, following a 1.5 percent jump in July. Excluding the tax impact, disposable incomes increased by a more modest 0.3 percent in July and 0.2 percent in August. (AP)Sun Microsystems forecasts $1b charge
Sun Microsystems Inc. said it will have a net loss of $1.04 billion, or 32 cents a share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, after taking a $1.051 billion noncash charge to boost a valuation allowance for net deferred tax assets. Also, Sun said it expects a fiscal first-quarter net loss of 7 to 10 cents a share, including a tax provision of about $34 million, or 1 cent a share. Sun said the charge is a result of bringing the company into accordance with new accounting standards. Analysts had been anticipating a loss of 2 cents a share on revenue of $2.7 billion. A Sun spokesman declined to comment on the company's anticipated revenue. The quarterly troubles also could jeopardize forecasts for Sun to turn a profit this year. Wall Street's outlook is for 3 cents a share for the 12 months ending in June. Sun made the disclosure after markets closed. In after-hours trading the stock fell 10 percent to $3.47. (Wire services) THE WORLD
European rival seeks to acquire KLM
Air France's board approved plans yesterday to acquire Dutch airline KLM, a board member said. The union would save the carriers roughly half a billion dollars and would create one of the world's largest aviation partnerships. Under terms of the deal, Air France and KLM, Europe's second- and fourth-largest carriers, would unite under the same corporate umbrella. The transaction stops short of a full-fledged merger, bowing to concerns raised by Dutch authorities about the future of Amsterdam's Schipol Airport, a key asset for the country's economy. (AP). . .Etc.
Abiomed Inc. of Danvers said its Abiocor artificial heart has received Food and Drug Administration approval as a humanitarian use device, a first step in bringing the hearts into commercial distribution. Shares rose 41 cents, or 4.9 percent, to $8.75 . . . Heritage Property Investment Trust Inc., a Boston owner and manager of shopping centers in 27 states, said it sold a shopping center in Asheville, N.C., for $13.3 million. The sale will result in a gain of about $2 million, the company said . . . Massachusetts plans to sell as much as $875 million of general obligation bonds today, with $600 million used to refund higher interest debt. The state, which has $3,267 in debt per capita, the highest of all 50 states, now plans to postpone selling $330 million worth of Water Pollution Abatement Trust bonds to pay for work on drinking water and sewage systems until next week, said Jeffrey Stearns, the state's deputy treasurer for debt management. (Wire services)© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
