Jackson Lab collaborating on cancer treatment study

The Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, is working with cancer specialists at two Connecticut hospitals to study new approaches to cancer treatment for adults and children.

The collaboration between the research lab, Hartford Hospital and Connecticut Children’s Medical Center was announced Tuesday.

Jackson scientists and doctors from the hospitals plan to use specialized mice as stand-ins for humans in their research. They are studying cancers with a high relapse risk.

 

Pfizer’s net income rises despite falling drug sales

Pfizer Inc.’s first-quarter net income rose 53 percent despite falling sales, mainly because the world’s second-largest drugmaker took big charges a year ago. Pfizer’s results fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, and the company lowered its profit and sales forecasts for the year, blaming sudden worsening of currency exchange rates.

Pfizer is struggling because generic competition is reducing revenue for two-thirds of its drugs, more than a dozen of which are former blockbusters that had brought in $1 billion or more annually. When drug patents expire, cheaper generic versions flood the market, and most patients quickly switch to them.

The biggest hit has been copycat versions of Pfizer’s cholesterol fighter Lipitor, which was the world’s best-selling drug for nearly a decade until it lost exclusivity in the U.S. in 2011 and in much of Europe last year. Revenue from Lipitor, which once brought in about $13 billion a year, dropped 55 percent to $626 million in the first quarter.

 

Judge dismisses challenge to Empire State Building IPO

A legal challenge to an ambitious plan to let the public buy shares in one of New York City’s most famous landmarks — the Empire State Building — was cast aside on Tuesday in a ruling by a Manhattan judge.

Judge O. Peter Sherwood rejected arguments by a small group of current investors in the 102-story building that the initial public offering would violate state law.

The ruling stems from a long-running dispute over plans by real estate magnates Peter Malkin and his son Anthony to offer the public shares in their holdings in Manhattan and Connecticut. The offering is expected to raise $1 billion for a new company called Empire State Trust Inc.

 

Apple selling bonds to raise $17 billion for shareholders

Apple Inc. started selling $17 billion in bonds on Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal, its first debt issue since the 1990s and the largest corporate bond issue ever.

The company is raising the money to give to shareholders through dividend payments and stock buybacks.

Apple has $145 billion in cash, but most of it remains in accounts overseas, and the company doesn’t plan to bring it to the U.S. until the federal corporate tax rate is lowered.