Jean-Pierre Garnier, who steps down as CEO of GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. on May 21, tells the Financial Times he's leaving the drug giant in better shape R&D-wise than he got it back in 2000.

GlaxoSmithKline has 34 drug undergoing the final phase of clinical testing. There were only two in late-stage trials in 2000.

The company, which has a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia, announced back in October that Garnier would be stepping down. His successor is Andrew Witty.

The newspaper quotes analysts (named and unnamed) who disagree about his overall legacy. But Garnier has no doubts that breaking GlaxoSmithKline's R&D into smaller units is his top achievement:

We are 200 per cent better at re-loading the pipeline. You have to really create the conditions for success. If not, you have zero chance. You can have serendipity only if the grounds are right.

Read the Financial Times story here.

The federal government has begun a massive airlift of money to all of us.

I haven’t gotten my check yet, but the IRS says it has sent out $27 billion in economic stimulus payments so far.

Remember, the goal of the stimulus plan hatched early in the year was to flood the U.S. economy with cash to help avoid a recession.

Each person gets $600 and then goes shopping, not only spending that government check but even more. Dollars course through the commercial sector. The economy gets jolted out of its slump.

But as gas and food prices began to ratchet higher this spring, some criticized the $165 billion program, saying the U.S. would just wind up sending the money to OPEC or the Ack-a-Me.

Maybe so. That’s still consumer spending, however.

And let’s not forget that the federal government isn’t generally in the habit of returning your money to you. (Tax refunds don’t count. That’s a loan you shouldn’t have made in the first place.)

I’m talking about “found” money. That $600 you get either by direct deposit or paper check is two car payments. A household of two parents and two kids gets $1,800, and that’s a mortgage payment.

Billionaire Warren Buffett told CNBC if he owed money on a credit card charging 15 to 18 percent interest, he’d use his stimulus check to pay down that debt.

For him, the decision is a no-brainer: Most of us aren’t going to find an investment that’s going to earn a return of 15 to 18 percent.

The point of an economic stimulus program is to get lots of people to spend, spend, spend. That’s why supermarkets and other stores are offering a 10 percent match when you buy a $300 gift card. Nonprofit organizations are even appealing to you not to shop but to donate for a good cause.

But as I’ve written before, you should use the money to get your household finances in order. Pay down some debt. Start a college fund for your daughter. Put the cash into a certificate of deposit.

Consider this government check the catalyst for you to begin to change how you finance your lifestyle.

Lots of companies don’t disclose terms of the deals they do.

But often when the acquirer is publicly held, you do learn who paid what. It just takes patience.

Last December, a Houston company bought T. Williams Consulting L.L.C., of Audubon, Pa. The second sentence of Comsys IT Partners Inc.’s press release said that terms were not being disclosed.

T. Williams Consulting, which also calls itself TWC Group, is in what’s called the recruitment process outsourcing business. Founded by Terry Williams in 1996, the company started out providing recruitment services for venture capital firms and the companies in which they invested.

TWC made inroads into the Fortune 500 and has grown rapidly. Last fall, the Wharton Small Business Development Center listed it at No. 91 on the annual Philadelphia 100 list of fastest-growing privately held companies. TWC had revenues of $9.05 million.

In contrast, Comsys is huge, with $743.3 million in revenues in 2007. Some public companies, when they buy something as small as TWC, never divulge the details.

But Comsys did in a note in its financial statements.

So now we know that Comsys paid $16.5 million in cash for TWC last December. And there could be more:

If TWC meets a certain earnings target, Comsys would pay up to $7.5 million more.

July Blues

July just got hotter.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department will hold three days of hearings on the merger between Highmark and Independence Blue Cross.

I expect hospitals, doctors, patient advocates and other insurers will let regulators know how much they want this deal stopped.

The hearings will be held in Pittsburgh on July 8; in Harrisburg on July 10; and in Philadelphia on July 15.

If you’re concerned about the slide in home prices, a new survey won’t help you sleep better.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia asked 50 professional forecasters for their projections for home prices. The 36 who responded don’t see a rebound until 2010.

Now different forecasters use various measures of home prices. Those who rely on the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index said that measure would stop declining significantly in the second quarter of 2009.

Those who work with the house price indexes compiled by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight are a little more optimistic, forecasting the end of the steep decline in the first quarter of 2009.

But let me remind you about that old adage real estate agents use about all real estate being local. You’re not buying or selling a house in all 50 states.

Housing, like the job market, can be strong in one area while weak in others.

Or it can be like Philadelphia. Real estate here never got too hot in the last boom, nor does it seem to be too cold in this housing slump.

The Case-Shiller index incorporates data for 20 major metropolitan markets, but Philadelphia is not one of them. That’s why when new data from that index is released — positive or negative — I sleep just fine.

Bacteria basher

A small Radnor biotech firm tackling the tough problem of drug-resistant bacteria got some attention from Scientific American.

PolyMedix Inc. said it is working on a polymer that could be used in paints, plastics and textiles to create surfaces that are “self-sterilizing.” CEO Nicholas Landekic is quoted in the article on the magazine’s Web site as saying that its compounds would become part of the surface of bedding, carpeting, countertops and towels.

What the article did not say was that PolyMedix is a penny stock. Its shares closed Wednesday at $1.02, up a penny.

A small company with 13 employees and ongoing operating losses, PolyMedix will need to find a corporate partner who could help bring such products to market.

If you're concerned about the slide in home prices, a new survey won't make you sleep better.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia asked 50 professional forecasters for their projections for home prices. They don't see a rebound until 2010.

Now different forecasters use different measures of home prices. Those who rely on the S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index said that measure would stop declining significantly in the second quarter of 2009.

Those who the house price indexes compiled by the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight are a little more optimistic, forecasting the end of the steep decline in the first quarter of 2009.

Case-Shiller collects data for 20 major metropolitan markets, but Philadelphia is not one of them. That's one reason why when new data from that index is released, I sleep just fine. Philadelphia real estate never got too hot, nor does it seem to be too cold in this housing slump.

A small Radnor biotech firm working on drugs and polymers that can attack bacteria got some attention from Scientific American.

PolyMedix Inc. said the polymer it is working on is not a coating, like silver. CEO Nicholas Landekic is quoted in the article on the magazine's Web site as saying that its compounds become part of the surface of bedding, carpeting, countertops and towels.

But the article also says that the company is concentrating on its antibiotic to market rather the antibacterial polymer.

Polymedix said last Friday that it received clearance to begin human testing in Canada for its compound, PMX-30063.

What the article did not say was that Polymedix is a penny stock. Its shares closed today at $1.02, up a penny.

It's a very small company with 13 employees that has piled up $28.7 million in an accumulated deficit since its start in 2002. Not unusual for a biotech firm, but it's clear PolyMedix will need to find a corporate partner who can help finance its research and development.

PMX-30063 is a long way from Food and Drug Administration approval.

Insurance rarely makes for interesting reading, but everyone loves a good technology story.

Oracle Corp. Tuesday agreed to buy one of the fastest-growing companies in the Philadelphia area that you’ve likely never heard of.

It’s called AdminServer Inc., a software company that develops programs used in the insurance business.

The first thing that’s surprising is that AdminServer is in Chester. It leases 60,000 square feet of space in what used to be Philadelphia Electric Co.’s Chester power station.

Economically distressed Chester is the furthest thing there is from a high-tech hotbed. But the city does have a low-tax Keystone Opportunity Zone that contains the redeveloped power plant.

When AdminServer moved there from the high-tech zip code of Malvern in 2003, it had 26 employees. The privately held company now employs more than 400.

Started in 1998, AdminServer celebrates its growth, showing up on those annual lists of corporate comets issued by Inc. magazine and Deloitte & Touche. According to figures published by Inc. last fall, AdminServer’s revenues rose from $4.6 million in 2003 to $24.2 million in 2006.

(Co-founder Chris Doggett actually used the word “boo-yah” in the company’s press release about being named to the 2006 Inc. 500.)

Why has it grown so fast? Insurers, which still run much of their business on computers older than the Internet, apparently really like AdminServer’s software that enables them to administer policies more nimbly.

When an industry as rich as insurance wants something you make, you have a hit. Maybe not “Grand Theft Auto IV”-like, but popular just the same in insurance offices around the world.

And if enough businesses want your software, someone like Oracle CEO Larry Ellison will come calling. Redwood Shores, Calif.-based Oracle is a gargantuan business software company that is constantly on the prowl for things to buy.

Buying AdminServer will complement Oracle’s own line of insurance industry software. It would not say how much it paid.

Oracle promises that the Chester company’s management and employees will form a “dedicated global business unit.” Will that be in Chester? Will Oracle really have a growing business unit just down the Blue Route from SAP America Inc., its nemesis in the enterprise resource planning systems business?

AdminServer CEO Rick Connors declined to comment on the deal, referring me to Oracle. An Oracle spokesman did not return a phone call or e-mail.

Previous acquisitions of Philadelphia-area software developers have usually resulted in the shutdown of the the local operations. (Remember Hewlett-Packard’s purchase of Bluestone?)

This deal is supposed to close by the end of June. Let’s hope on July 1, AdminServer still is conquering the insurance software business from its Chester offices.

Often, when acquisitions are announced, the phrase "terms of the acquisition were not disclosed."

That was true last December when a Houston company, called Comsys IT Partners Inc., bought T. Williams Consulting L.L.C. , an Audubon, Pa. provider of outsourcing and consulting services for the human resources business.

But those terms have been disclosed now, thanks to Comsys' Form 10-Q filing.

Comsys paid $16.5 million in cash for T. Williams, which also calls itself TWC Group, at the closing Dec. 19, 2007. But more could be on the way if TWC meets its annual target for earnings before income taxes, depreciation and amortization.

How much more? Up to $7.5 million.

Last fall, the Wharton Small Business Development Center released data for the annual Philadelphia 100 list of fastest-growing privately held company, and TWC Group was on the list. For 2006, TWC said revenues were $9.05 million, and it had 89 employees.

Comsys is a huge information technology services firm, with $743.3 million in revenues in 2007.

The Pennsylvania Insurance Department today said it will hold three days of hearings in July on the merger between Highmark and Independence Blue Cross.

The hearings are designed to hear from consumers and others about how the consolidation of the two huge insurers will affect the health-care market.

The first hearing will be held at the Westin Pittsburgh Convention Center, 1000 Penn Ave., Pittsburgh, on July 8.

The second will be at the Harrisburg Hilton & Towers, 1 N. Second St., Harrisburg, on July 10.

The last hearing is set for the Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel at 201 N. 17th St., Philadelphia, on July 15.

Each hearing will begin at 9 a.m. There will also be evening sessions starting at 7 p.m.

Here's the critical thing: If you want to be heard, you need to pre-register. To do that, you need to provide the identity of the speaker, and the date and location where the remarks will be made. And the Insurance Department is encouraging people to submit advance copies of their testimony.

The key date for doing all of that is before July 2.

Send those comments to: Robert Brackbill, Chief, Company Licensing Division, Insurance Department, 1345 Strawberry Square, Harrisburg, Pa. 17120. Or fax them to 1-717-787-8557. Or e-mail them to rbrackbill@state.pa.us

To read what's already been filed in this complex case, go to this link and click on "Highmark/IBC."