In the Region

FDA examining weight-loss drug

The Food and Drug Administration said yesterday that it was investigating reports of liver damage in patients taking GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s alli, the only nonprescription weight-loss drug approved by the agency. Regulators said they received more than 30 reports of liver damage in patients taking alli and Xenical, the prescription version of the drug. The reports, submitted between 1999 and October 2008, included 27 hospitalized patients, and six who suffered liver failure. Alli and Xenical are marketed by British drugmaker Glaxo, which has major Philadelphia-area operations, though Xenical is manufactured by Swiss firm Roche Holding Ltd. The FDA says it has not established a direct relationship between the weight-loss treatments and liver injury, and it advised patients to continue using the drugs as directed. A spokeswoman for Glaxo said there was no evidence the company's drug caused liver injury, noting that it primarily acts on the intestinal tract. She said alli's safety had been studied in more than 30,000 patients enrolled in 100 clinical studies. - AP

Santander to buy back debt

Banco Santander S.A., Spain's biggest lender and the parent of Sovereign Bancorp Inc., said it would buy back about 16.5 billion euros (about $23.6 billion) of its fixed-rate securities at a discounted rate. The bank said in a release that it would pay 61 percent to 95.5 percent of the face value. "The intention of the Invitation is to improve the efficiency of the Group's capital structure and strengthen the balance of Grupo Santander," the bank said in a statement. - Roslyn Rudolph

CSL Biotherapies starts flu trials

CSL Biotherapies Inc. said it started its first U.S. clinical trials of its candidate Influenza A/H1N1 2009 vaccine yesterday. The King of Prussia company said the studies would determine the safety of its candidate vaccine and its ability to elicit an immune response in adults and children. The pediatric study will evaluate CSL's candidate vaccine in a thimerosal-free (i.e., preservative-free) formulation. Federal funds are helping to pay for the study, the company said. The studies will take place at 24 sites throughout the country, including Pittsburgh and Latrobe, Pa. - Miriam Hill

Elsewhere

Irish company buying P&G unit

Warner Chilcott Ltd., an Irish maker of birth-control pills and acne medicine, said it would buy Procter & Gamble Co.'s prescription-drug unit for an upfront cash payment of $3.1 billion. Warner Chilcott will get products with $2.3 billion in annual sales including Actonel for osteoporosis, Asacol for bowel disorders, and co-promotion rights to Enablex for bladder control, the companies said in a statement. Warner Chilcott shares surged $4.35, or 27.09 percent, to close at $20.41 in Nasdaq trading, while Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble's shares fell 24 cents to close at $53.34 on the New York Stock Exchange. - Bloomberg News

Labor union chief to chair N.Y. Fed

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York has named a top state labor union official its chairman, the bank announced. Denis M. Hughes, president of the New York State AFL-CIO, has been deputy chairman since January 2007. He became acting chairman in May after the surprise resignation of Stephen Friedman. News reports had raised questions about Friedman's ties to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Hughes, 59, has been a director of the New York Fed since January 2004. The Fed's Board of Governors appointed him chairman for the remainder of this year. - AP

Snow Leopard goes on sale

Apple Inc.'s latest operating system software, Snow Leopard, will go on sale this Friday. The Mac OS X version 10.6 software will debut at Apple's retail stores and authorized resellers nationwide. Apple's online store is now taking preorders. Among Snow Leopard's improvements is built-in support for Microsoft's Exchange Server software, so Apple programs for e-mail, calendars, and contacts could become more useful in corporate settings. Apple said Snow Leopard was half the size of the previous version, freeing up to 7 gigabytes of storage space when installed. It requires a minimum of 1 gigabyte of RAM and runs on Macs using an Intel processor. - AP

Reader's Digest files for bankruptcy

Reader's Digest Association Inc., publisher of the general-interest magazine that began gracing American homes in 1922, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it faces falling print circulation in the Internet age and looming debt payments. Known for its heartwarming stories about American life as other publications moved toward edgier fare, the company's flagship Reader's Digest magazine has seen its U.S. circulation drop from a peek of more than 17 million in the 1970s to just above 8 million last year. - AP

Euro zone industrial orders rise

Industrial orders in the 16-nation euro zone rose 3.1 percent in June from the quarter before, official data showed, suggesting the manufacturing sector could be emerging from recession. The European statistics agency Eurostat said new orders - a key gauge of industry's future growth - rose in both France and Germany, which emerged from recession in the second quarter, as well as Ireland, which has been among the hardest hit by the global economic crisis. The figure was almost twice as strong as the 1.6 percent monthly increase that analysts were expecting. - AP

Rates drop at Treasury auction

Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills fell in yesterday's auction, with rates on six-month bills dropping to the lowest level this year. The Treasury Department auctioned $31 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 0.16 percent, down from 0.18 percent last week. An additional $30 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 0.255 percent, down from 0.27 percent last week. The three-month rate was the lowest since the bills averaged 0.15 percent June 1. The six-month rate was the lowest since the bills averaged 0.25 percent Dec. 29. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,995.51, while a six-month bill sold for $9,987.10. - AP

Average yield for one-years fall

The Federal Reserve said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, fell to 0.44 percent last week from 0.47 percent the previous week. - AP