In the Region

J&J to close 2 area sites

Johnson & Johnson said yesterday that it was closing research-and-development facilities in Radnor and Chesterbrook and consolidating those operations at its Spring House site. The New Brunswick, N.J., company would not say how many jobs are at those locations now or how many would remain in Spring House after the move, which is to be completed by 2012. - Miriam Hill

Sources: Pfizer to pay $75M

Pfizer Inc. must pay about $75 million in punitive damages to an Illinois woman who developed cancer after taking one of the drugmaker's menopause treatments, people familiar with a sealed verdict in the case said. A Philadelphia jury ordered Pfizer's Wyeth unit on Oct. 26 to pay the bad-conduct award, which is about 20 times larger than the $3.7 million in actual damages that the panel awarded to Connie Barton over her use of Wyeth's Prempro menopause drug, according to people with direct knowledge of the verdict. A judge ordered the punitive-

damage award sealed at Wyeth's request until the trial of another Prempro suit in the same court is completed. - Bloomberg News

Synthes warns about its implants

Medical device maker Synthes Inc., West Chester, said it was recalling some spinal implants that could collapse. The Food and Drug Administration has classified the recall of vertebral implants called Synthes Synex II Central Body components as "Class I," meaning the products could pose an imminent hazard to health in patients, Synthes said. Synthes initiated a voluntary recall on Sept. 14, the company said. According to Bloomberg News, Gilgian Eisner, spokesman for Synthes' Zurich-

based parent company, said Synthes was trying to determine what was causing the collapse in a small number of patients. - Reid Kanaley

Competing bidder for Capmark

Capmark Financial Group Inc., the bankrupt Horsham lender to office and apartment builders, received a second offer for its loan-servicing unit, setting up a potential auction pitting the new bid against Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Leucadia National Corp. The partnership between Berkshire and Leucadia, called Berkadia, already agreed to pay $490 million for the unit unless a competitor offers more. Capmark lawyer Michael Kessler didn't name the company that made the new offer. It's a "strategic" buyer that is already in the loan-servicing business, Kessler said. While the newcomer has offered more money than Berkadia, it does not plan to hire Capmark's servicing employees, he said. - Bloomberg News

Radian records Q3 loss

Radian Group Inc., a Philadelphia home-mortgage insurer, swung to a $70.5 million loss in the third quarter after recording a $36.7 million profit in the same period a year ago. However, Radian cited positive trends, such as the payment of fewer claims than expected. - Harold Brubaker

RAIT Financial narrows Q3 loss

RAIT Financial Trust, a Philadelphia manager of investments in real estate, reported its smallest loss in five quarters. It said it lost $24.7 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $181.7 million in the same period a year ago. Commercial real estate is a growing problem; the company said that $246.03 million, or 15.6 percent, of such loans were doubtful. That is double the rate at the end of June. - Harold Brubaker

Elsewhere

Bank deal with SEC worth $700M

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has agreed to a settlement worth more than $700 million over federal regulators' charges that it made unlawful payments to friends of public officials to win municipal bond business in Jefferson County, Ala. The scandal over the county's $3.9 billion debt has pushed it to the brink of filing what would be the biggest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced the settlement with JPMorgan, which canceled interest-rate swap contracts with the county worth $700 million in March. The Wall Street bank did not admit or deny the SEC allegations. - AP

GMAC Financial's loss narrows

GMAC Financial Services, the main lender for General Motors Co. and Chrysler Group L.L.C., said its loss narrowed to $767 million in the third quarter, as its auto-lending unit made money while its home-mortgage unit reported another loss. The company's earnings report comes a week after the Treasury Department said it was in talks with the New York-based lender over a third round of taxpayer aid. - AP

House votes to speed card rules

The House has voted to impose tough new rules for credit card companies unless lenders agree to freeze interest rates and fees. The bill, approved 331-92, would accelerate the February enactment date of legislation already passed by Congress that limits when and how banks can charge credit card customers. Prospects of Senate passage are dim. - AP

Service sector index grows again

The U.S. service sector grew for a second straight month in October, but at a slower pace than in September, as a broad economic recovery creeps along. The Institute for Supply Management said its service index dipped to 50.6 last month from 50.9. Any reading above 50 signals growth. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a 51.5 for the index that tracks the country's hospitals, retailers, financial services companies and truckers. - AP

Chrysler aims to revamp Dodge cars

Chrysler plans to revamp its struggling Dodge car brand under a new turnaround plan and says the company's cash has grown by nearly $2 billion since it exited bankruptcy protection in June. Under the plan, Chrysler aims to introduce four new Dodges by 2013 and put new exteriors, interiors and engines on most of its current lineup. Fiat SpA, the Italian automaker, now owns 35 percent of Chrysler. - AP

Money fund yields unchanged

The average seven-day yield on taxable money-market funds was 0.04 percent this week, unchanged from last week, according to iMoneyNet Inc. The average yield on tax-free funds was 0.05 percent this week, unchanged from last week. - Rhonda Dickey