Alantos to cut 45 jobs, close in Mass., Germany

Alantos Pharmaceuticals Inc., a Cambridge biotech company sold to Amgen Inc. for $300 million in July, plans to shut down and eliminate its 45 jobs in Massachusetts and Germany, said Amgen spokeswoman Mary Klem. Amgen, based in Thousand Oaks, Calif., has another 200 workers in Cambridge. The drug maker is offering voluntary buyouts to its older and long-term employees - including those in Cambridge - as part of a corporatewide cost-cutting plan. The company said it could also lay off some employees later this year. Klem, however, said Amgen intends to retain a significant presence in the city. (Todd Wallack)

AT&T Inc. disclosed a planned investment of more than $71 million in the Massachusetts wireless network. According to Texas-based AT&T, that amount will bring the company's three-year investment in the state's wireless network to more than $420 million. "Our goal is to ensure that AT&T customers have the very best wireless experience possible - which includes excellent coverage and quality of service," Steve Krom, AT&T's vice president and general manager for wireless operations in New England, said. (Chris Reidy)

The Boston Center for Adult Education said it has sold the 13,000-square-foot mansion at 5 Commonwealth Ave., which an architectural historian called "one of the very last lavish houses" in the Back Bay. The center would not disclose the sales price, but spokeswoman Tara Frier said it "exceeded the BCAE's goal of $15 million." The proceeds will be used to create an endowment to fund education programs and to renovate classrooms at another location, 122 Arlington St. BCAE's executive director, PJ Blankenhorn, said the buyer intends to renovate the property as a single-family residence "in keeping with its history as a home and family environment." In 1941, the center paid $23,500 for the property. (Kimberly Blanton)

Johnson & Johnson's drug-coated stent Cypher was more effective at warding off heart complications than Boston Scientific Corp.'s Taxus when used in small blood vessels, a study found. After two years, 10.4 percent of patients getting a Cypher stent had a major cardiac event, such as needing another procedure, compared with 21.4 percent of those given a Taxus stent, New Brunswick, N.J.-based Johnson & Johnson said. There were no significant differences between the two in larger vessels or when only heart attacks and deaths were considered. J&J shares rose 33 cents to $65.12, while Natick-based Boston Scientific rose 5 cents to $13.75. (Bloomberg)

The season premieres of seven Fox Broadcasting shows will be offered on Apple Inc.'s iTunes store for free in the latest example of TV networks using the Web to create interest in their shows. Fox will post episodes this week of returning series such as "Prison Break" and "Bones," along with new shows such as "K-Ville." The shows will be available for one week. The move by Fox comes after NBC Universal stopped selling shows on iTunes because of a pricing dispute with Apple. (AP)

Three spreadsheets containing more than 5,000 Social Security numbers and other personal details about customers of ABN Amro Mortgage Group were inadvertently leaked over an online file-sharing network by a former employee. Tiversa Inc., a Pittsburgh company that offers data-leakage protection services, traced the origins of the ABN data to a Florida computer with the BearShare software installed. Tiversa chief executive Robert Boback said his firm had found evidence the files already had moved beyond the former employee's computer. (AP)

The Home Depot Inc. doesn't plan to make any broad-based job cuts or reduce the number of its core retail stores in the face of a persistent housing slump, chief executive Frank Blake said. Blake said the Atlanta company's focus on customer service means more employees, not fewer, will be needed. "We're making investments, notwithstanding the downturn," Blake said. (AP)