Posted on Thu, Feb. 21, 2008
Business news in brief
In the Region
FDA panel says Glaxo's rotavirus vaccine is safe
GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s oral vaccine to protect infants from rotavirus is safe and effective, a panel of U.S. advisers said. Glaxo has a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia. In a vote yesterday, the Food and Drug Administration advisory panel said studies on the vaccine were sufficient to demonstrate safety. The agency's staff had cited indications the vaccine might increase pneumonia-related deaths. Rotavirus is a potentially deadly disease that can cause severe diarrhea and dehydration in infants. If approved, Glaxo's vaccine, called Rotarix, would compete with Merck & Co. Inc.'s RotaTeq, which won FDA approval two years ago. The FDA usually follows the recommendations of its outside advisers, although it is not required to do so. - Bloomberg News
Cigna misled employees on pension, judge rules
A federal judge in Connecticut has ruled that Cigna Corp. misled its employees about a switch to a new pension plan 10 years ago. Attorneys for the employees in the case say they will now try to recoup hundreds of millions of dollars in retirement benefits for thousands of workers. Cigna's corporate headquarters is in Philadelphia. The ruling in the class-action case, issued by Judge Mark R. Kravitz, concerns Cigna's conversion from a traditional pension plan with defined benefits to a "cash-balance" plan, starting in 1998. Kravitz said that Cigna had failed to give a key notice to employees required under federal law and that the company's plan descriptions were, in some instances, downright misleading. Cigna said it was disappointed with the finding. - AP
A.C. Moore's fourth-quarter sales drop 10.4%
A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc., Berlin, said fourth-quarter sales fell 10.4 percent, to $177.3 million from $197.8 million a year earlier. Same-store sales for the three months that ended Dec. 31 fell 14.5 percent from the same period in 2006. Company shares closed down 22.5 percent, or $2.75, at $9.49 in Nasdaq trading. The 134-craft-store chain said it had closed two poorly performing stores in the fourth quarter. The company is restating 2007 financial information and said that, on Feb. 12, the Nasdaq Listing Qualifications Panel granted its request for continued listing provided, among other things, the company filed its quarterly financial report for the period ending Sept. 30 on or before April 1. The company said it expected to comply. - Reid Kanaley
Kenexa approves stock-repurchase plan
Kenexa Corp., the Wayne provider of talent-acquisition-and-retention software services, has authorized a stock-repurchase plan. The company says it will buy up to three million shares at unspecified times, either on the open market or through private transactions. Shares closed up 40 cents to close at $19.80 a share. - Jane M. Von Bergen
Swift Financial plans staff expansion
Swift Financial Corp., a Wilmington company that provides electronic-payment and loan services to small businesses, plans to expand its staff to 125 from the current 62 by the end of 2008 after raising $20 million in new funding from Sutter Hill Ventures, Palo Alto, Calif.; Village Ventures, Williamstown, Mass.; and Permit Capital L.L.C., West Conshohocken, Swift chief executive officer Ed Harycki said. Sutter and Village invested an additional $6.5 million in Swift last year. - Joseph N. DiStefano
Kensey Nash technology gets FDA approval
Kensey Nash Corp., Exton, said the Food and Drug Administration had approved for sale its technology to treat completely blocked arteries. The medical-device-maker said the approval was for vessel-wall-detection technology to be used in its Safe-Cross System device. - Linda Loyd
Campbell to sell soups under V8 label
Campbell Soup Co., Camden, will start selling soups under the V8 beverage label this year to spur sales of more-expensive varieties. Campbell wants to capitalize on the popularity of its V8 vegetable juices by extending the brand into soups. The V8 name, which will replace Campbell's Select Gold Label brand, will increase purchases by health-minded consumers, chief executive officer Douglas Conant told analysts. V8 soups will appeal to consumers who do not eat enough vegetables and are willing to pay more for soups to get that nutrition, executives said. - Bloomberg News
Association Headquarters wins three contracts
Association Headquarters Inc., Mount Laurel, which manages trade and professional organizations, said it had won contracts to manage three groups. They are the Association of Medical Media, the Society for Foodservice Management, and the National Association of Professional Organizers. Association Headquarters said it would use current staff to manage and provide other support services to the three organizations. - Tom Belden
Neose fails to meet Nasdaq listing criteria
Neose Technologies Inc., Horsham, said it had received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Market that its share price had closed below the minimum $1 for 30 days in a row. Neose said it no longer met Nasdaq's listing criteria and had until Aug. 18 to regain compliance. Neose shares during this period will continue to trade on the Nasdaq, the company said. On Jan. 30, Neose said it was discontinuing development of its key anemia drug. Neose shares closed down 4 cents at 59 cents yesterday. - Linda Loyd
Safend closes $9 million round of funding
Safend Inc., an Israeli company with U.S. offices in Philadelphia, said it had closed a $9 million round of funding. Safend specializes in protecting computer data. Investors include a multibillion-dollar European asset-management firm, whose identity was not disclosed; Elron Electronic Industries Ltd.; Intel Capital, which is the investment arm of Intel Corp.; and Walden Israel Venture Capital. The funds will be used to accelerate development of Safend's core technology, add products, and expand partnerships and distribution channels worldwide, the company said. - Linda Loyd
Elsewhere
French trader eyed in fraud acted alone, probers say
Investigators of a $7 billion fraud at the French bank Societe Generale said that the only trader implicated in the scandal had acted alone. Investigators also said they had found no evidence that there were any personal monetary gains made through the allegedly unauthorized positions taken by futures trader Jerome Kerviel. In an interim report, internal investigators at France's second-largest bank said procedures were followed correctly but they failed to stop Kerviel, 31. - AP
Sears to take safety action after suit on stoves
Sears Holdings Corp. will install safety brackets on its stoves in millions of households or offer gift cards in settling an Illinois class-action lawsuit over the appliances' supposed propensity to topple. Sears will offer to fix all brands of its freestanding or slide-in kitchen ranges in as many as 3.9 million homes by bolting them to a wall or floor. - AP
Yields drop on taxable and tax-free money funds
The average seven-day yield on taxable money market funds fell to 3.05 percent this week from 3.07 percent last week, according to iMoneyNet Inc. The average yield on tax-free funds fell to 1.41 percent from 1.70 percent last week. - Rhonda Dickey
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