Clinical Data plans to sell Dutch diagnostics unit

Biotechnology company Clinical Data Inc. said it is selling its Dutch diagnostics business to France's ELITech Group for $15 million to focus on its core business. Newton-based Clinical Data said it will hold about $4.5 million in cash from Vital Scientific BV, netting $19.5 million on the transaction. Clinical Data said the $4.5 million was from cash on the company's balance sheet. Clinical Data, which provides genetic tests, previously said it planned to focus on the study of genes or genomics. (AP)

Boston Scientific Corp. named Keith Dawkins senior vice president and associate chief medical officer. Dawkins, an interventional cardiologist at Southampton University Hospital in England, will also serve on the Natick medical device maker's operating committee. He is scheduled to join the company in January. (Todd Wallack)

Business software maker Novell Inc. laid off 250 workers in the United States as part of a restructuring program to slash costs, company spokesman Bruce Lowry said. Many of the jobs will be moved to India, where labor costs are lower than in the United States, he said. The Waltham company has previously said it will take $35 million to $45 million in restructuring charges this year, which include costs associated with the layoffs. The number of cuts in Waltham, if any, was not disclosed. (Reuters)

EMC Corp., which is enjoying a resurgence in its stock after spinning off fast-growing software maker VMware Inc., got another boost after Thursday reporting a hefty increase in its third-quarter profit. The data storage vendor also eased fears that the credit crunch and mortgage turmoil could curb financial services firms' appetite to spend on storage software and hardware upgrades. EMC reported a modest increase in third-quarter sales to data-dependent financial firms, and the company's shares rose $1.92, or 8.5 percent, to $24.45 Thursday and rose 8 cents yesterday. (AP)

Apple Inc. no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases and now limits sales of the device to two per person in a move to curb resellers. The new policy started Thursday, said an Apple spokeswoman. Before then, there was no cash restriction and the purchase limit was five per person. More than 1.4 million units of the hybrid cellphone-iPod have been sold since it debuted June 29, according to Apple. (AP)

Royal Ahold NV, the Dutch owner of the US Stop & Shop supermarket chain, fell the most in two years in Amsterdam trading after saying price cuts will continue eroding profit at American stores. US sales dropped 5.1 percent in the third quarter because of a declining dollar, the retailer said. Total revenue rose 1.1 percent on growth in the Netherlands. Its shares dropped 5.4 percent. Ahold gets more than half its sales from the United States where its chains are cutting prices and renovating stores to narrow the gap with Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bloomberg)

Business software maker BEA Systems Inc. signaled its intent to let Oracle Corp.'s $6.7 billion takeover bid expire tomorrow, setting the stage for a showdown with its largest shareholder, billionaire Carl Icahn. After BEA's latest dismissal of Oracle's bid yesterday, Icahn accused BEA's board of trying to derail a possible sale and threatened to lead a shareholder rebellion unless the directors changed their ways. Icahn owns a 13.2 percent stake in BEA. (AP)

Business groups and the agency that operates John F. Kennedy International Airport say the New York air hub could be hurt if federal officials try to fight chronic flight delays there by trimming the number of planes allowed to fly. The Department of Transportation said last week it believed the congested airport can reliably handle a maximum of 80 or 81 flights per hour - far fewer than the 100 or more now scheduled for peak travel periods. Federal authorities this week asked the airlines to voluntarily cut back by next summer, or face a mandatory order to slim their schedules. (AP)