Company news

Bioanalytical Systems Inc. posted its second straight profitable quarter, and swung to a full-year profit, according to an announcement released Dec. 26. The West Lafayette-based provider of pharmaceutical testing services and equipment continues to try to turn around after a major restructuring in 2012. It earned $252,000 in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 30, compared with a loss the year before of nearly $2.7 million, much of which was due to restructuring charges. For the full fiscal year, Bioanalytical earned $789,000, compared with a loss of $6.3 million during the previous fiscal year. Revenue for the fiscal year fell nearly 22 percent, after the 2012 closure of testing facilities in Oregon and the United Kingdom. That helped reduce Bioanalytical’s expenses by one-third, boost its gross margin by nearly 50 percent, and turn its cash flow from operations from a negative $200,000 last year to $1.5 million in fiscal 2013.

The McDonald's restaurant inside Riley Hospital for Children will close this week, according to the Associated Press. Officials at Indiana University Health, which operates Riley, said they want to promote healthier foods than burgers, fries and sodas. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine issued a report in 2012, naming Riley one of the five worst children's hospitals for its food environment, with the presence of the McDonald’s listed as one of the biggest factors for the ranking. That report came two months after IU Health had joined the Partnership for a Healthier America, a group working to reduce childhood obesity. Since joining the partnership, IU Health has banned sugary drinks at its in-house eateries and will soon ban deep-fat fryers, although the partnership did not require those bans to extend to the independently operated McDonald’s. Next month, Riley will open a cafe in the lobby of the Simon Family Tower that will remain open 20 hours a day and offer many options, including those that appeal to children.

Indianapolis-based Hoosier Oncology Group has received a $1.9 million gift to help conduct clinical trials of new cancer treatments. The group, founded in 1984, said it would use the money in part to expand its capacity to store blood and tissue samples for later study. The gift came from the estate of Margaret M. Weeks, who was a schoolteacher in the Indianapolis Public Schools. She died in February at the age of 94. Since its founding, Hoosier Oncology Group has initiated more than 150 clinical trials involving more than 3,000 patients. The group was spun out from the Indianapolis-based Walther Cancer Institute in 2007.