Proteon Therapeutics drug gets FDA fast-track status

Proteon Therapeutics Inc., a privately held Waltham biopharmaceutical company, said it has received fast-track designation for a drug candidate from the Food and Drug Administration. PRT-201 is being investigated for its ability to improve vascular access in patients currently on or being prepared for hemodialysis, said the company, which noted the FDA's fast-track designation is intended to facilitate development and expedite review for drugs that treat serious diseases and fill unmet medical needs. (Chris Reidy)

Countrywide Financial Corp., the home lender acquired by Bank of America Corp., had a "massive" security breach that allowed a former employee to steal information on about 2 million consumers, Connecticut's attorney general said. Richard Blumenthal said in an e-mail the employee sold the information to third parties. The breach has resulted in at least two arrests so far, he said. Data on more than 28,000 Connecticut customers may have been sold over a two-year period by the former Countrywide employee, according to authorities investigating the breach. Countrywide has said it will give consumers two years of credit monitoring, optional credit freezes, identity theft insurance, and compensation for any damages, said Blumenthal. (Bloomberg)

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. plans to stop insuring lenders through its Kansas Bankers Surety Cos. as US banks fail at the fastest pace in 14 years. The unit will no longer insure accounts beyond the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s $100,000 limit per depositor and $250,000 limit on some retirement accounts, said Chuck Towle, a senior vice president at Kansas Bankers. The company will exit the business entirely over time, Towle said. The move will affect customers in 38 states. Towle said there was no set period for phasing out the business and wouldn't comment on existing relationships with banks. (Bloomberg)

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s former chief executive William McGuire agreed to pay $30 million to settle a lawsuit brought against the company and individual defendants over backdated stock options. Under the deal, which needs court approval, McGuire will also return to UnitedHealth 3.68 million shares of stock options, McGuire said in a statement distributed by his law firm, Latham & Watkins LLP. The settlement might be the largest cash recovery obtained from an individual defendant in a securities class-action lawsuit, said the California Public Employee Retirement System, which is leading a group of plaintiffs. (Bloomberg)

Sun Microsystems Inc., facing slowing hardware demand, started selling software that lets multiple operating systems run at the same time on a common type of server computer, challenging VMware Inc. and Microsoft Corp. The software works on so-called x86 servers, which use Windows, Linux, or Unix operating systems to run corporate networks and websites, said Steve Wilson, a Sun vice president. Annual prices start at $500 a server. Sun is trying to add software sales as some customers curb server purchases to cope with an economic slump. (Bloomberg)

Boeing Co.'s chief financial officer James Bell said the airplane maker was in a "cooling off period" with its striking machinists, but the sides remain at odds over outsourcing and other issues. Bell said the Chicago-based company needs to make sure "we have a process that allows us to put the work where it can best be done, and that's what we're arguing for and that's what we're going to retain at the company level." Boeing's outsourcing of parts manufacturing to other companies worldwide is among the disputed issues that prompted 27,000 assembly workers to walk off the job Saturday in Washington, Oregon, and Kansas. (AP)

Toys "R" Us Inc., the largest US toy store chain, posted a second-quarter profit on higher sales of video games and baby formula. Net income was $13 million, compared with a loss of $42 million a year earlier. Revenue in the three months ended Aug. 2 rose 6.3 percent to $2.77 billion, the Wayne, N.J.-based retailer said in a regulatory filing. Sales increased at all three divisions. Chief executive Gerald Storch boosted same-store sales at US shops by stocking up on Nintendo Co.'s "Wii Fit" video game and also selling baby gear. The results suggest Storch has been able to fend off competition from Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (Bloomberg)