The state’s medical-device companies are finding that they cannot pass on the new medical-device tax created by Obamacare to their hospital customers, causing them to continue to make cuts and to look to foreign markets for more profitable growth.
In a case that could have affected Dow AgroSciences LLC and companies developing biotech drugs, the U.S. Supreme Court sustained St. Louis-based Monsanto Co.'s claim that an Indiana farmer violated the company's patents on soybean seeds that are resistant to its weed killer. The justices, in a unanimous vote Monday, rejected farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman’s argument that cheap soybeans he bought from a grain elevator are not covered by the Monsanto patents, even though most of them also were genetically modified to resist the company's Roundup herbicide. Justice Elena Kagan said a farmer who buys patented seeds must have the patent holder's permission. Monsanto has a policy to protect its investment in seed development that prohibits farmers from saving or reusing the seeds once the crop is grown. Farmers must buy new seeds every year. The case had been closely watched by researchers and businesses holding patents on DNA molecules, nanotechnologies and other self-replicating technologies. But Kagan said the court's holding only "addresses the situation before us."
Warner Transitional Services LLC, a 10-month-old company that provides services to adults with developmental disabilities, plans to cease operations this summer, putting 112 employees out of work. The Indianapolis-based firm plans to terminate employment for 102 of its employees on June 7. The other 10 will remain with the company for less than another month to help wind down operations. Warner relies on funds from the Indiana Family and Social Administration, but FSSA recently decided to end that funding after numerous complaints against the company went unresolved. More than half of the employees affected are direct care professionals, a title usually held by nursing assistants or personal care aides. Warner is a subsidiary of Oconomowoc, Wis.-based Oconomowoc Residential Programs Inc., which operates several therapeutic, residential and in-home services businesses in the Midwest.
John Lechleiter temporarily relinquished the reins of Eli Lilly and Co. on Monday while he undergoes and recovers from cardiovascular surgery. Derica Rice, Lilly’s chief financial officer, will become acting CEO in Lechleiter’s absence. And Ellen Marram, lead independent director on Lilly’s board of directors, will be acting chairman. Lechleiter, 59, has been suffering from a dilated aorta, which is a swelling that can cause a rupture and bleeding in the main artery that carries blood from the heart. The company said the problem was discovered during unrelated testing and has not produced visible symptoms. Lechleiter will undergo a procedure in Indianapolis in which a portion of his aorta will be removed and replaced with a graft, said Lilly spokesman Ed Sagebiel. He will be recuperating for months, but is expected to return to the company “later this summer,” depending on the pace of his recovery. Rice, 48, has been Lilly’s CFO since 2006 and executive vice president of global services since 2010. He is the highest-ranking African-American executive at Lilly.
Former WellPoint Inc. CEO Angela Braly has been named by Gov. Mike Pence to serve as a board member of the Indiana Economic Development Corp. The appointment is the first high-profile post that Braly, 51, has accepted since she was ousted from the top spot at the Indianapolis-based health insurer in August. Braly’s tenure leading WellPoint was rocky, in part because WellPoint was painted by President Obama’s administration as the poster child of health insurance abuses during the lengthy debate of the president’s health reform law. Financial and operational missteps ultimately led investors to demand Braly’s ouster last summer. In February, WellPoint hired Joe Swedish, a longtime hospital executive, to replace Braly. WellPoint is Indiana's largest public company, ranking No. 47 on the new Fortune 500 list.
John Lechleiter has been suffering from a dilated aorta, Eli Lilly and Co. said Monday. Current CFO Derica Rice will take his place until later this summer.
Symphony stays local with latest hire, pulling Suzanne Sweeney from the Indiana Repertory Theatre.
State officials want to know how an Oklahoma City company managed to set up 30,000 Indiana accounts for a federally subsidized phone program in less than a year. The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission has launched an investigation into whether TerraCom LLC is repeating federal violations it allegedly committed in Oklahoma.
Opponents of privatization fear trustees will take action on the controversial issue over the summer.
Heading into the 2008 recession, Center Township sat on $10.5 million in cash, but sky-high unemployment and rising poverty over the next four years failed to drain those funds, and the disconnect persists in several area townships.
Robert Millard, chief financial officer at Angie’s List for less than two years, will step down at the quarter’s end, the company announced Thursday.
Having rejuvenated Glendale Town Center and Rivers Edge, Kite is turning its attention to Rangeline Crossing in Carmel.
The locally based grocery chain said it is shutting down the stores rather than renew leases. Following the closings, Marsh will have 91 stores in Indiana and Ohio.
Insiders at Indianapolis-area companies cashed in millions of dollars of their own companies’ shares this month, a selling spree that might reflect growing sentiment the market rally is ending.
Lawyers for the former CEO of Marsh Supermarkets on Thursday hammered home their claims his expenses were widely accepted in the company as normal business costs, while witness testimony revealed a corporate culture that passed the buck on evaluating those costs.
Any feelings of satisfaction that Sun Capital Partners executives had after completing the acquisition of Marsh Supermarkets Inc. quickly turned to “shock and surprise,” a managing director of the private-equity firm told jurors Tuesday.
As legislators brace for a $250 million annual transportation spending gap down the road, the Indiana Department of Transportation has designated more than one-third of its entire federal highway aid this year toward building 27 miles of Interstate 69 between Crane and Bloomington.
What’s extraordinary about the spending spree was that it continued even as Marsh Supermarkets' financial condition grew increasingly precarious.
Eagle Creek Golf Club received a long-awaited face-lift this year under a contract that will rescue the city from most of its expenses stemming from the previous operator’s loan default.
Saying their crimes were “as serious as any financial fraud crime ever committed,” federal prosecutors re-emphasized Monday their recommendation that Ponzi schemer Tim Durham and his two accomplices deserve to spend the rest of their lives in prison.
The Ohio Division of Securities allowed Fair Finance to register investment certificates even after the company stopped providing audited financials and Tim Durham drained more than $100 million from the firm through insider loans.
Green BEAN Delivery’s roots may be in central Indiana, but the homegrown firm also is planting itself in Cincinnati—literally.
