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Eli Lilly and Co. this morning announced that it has agreed to buy biotechnology company ImClone Systems Inc. for more than $6 billion, a deal that expands Lilly’s pipeline of cancer treatments. Indianapolis-based Lilly said it will pay $70 per share for New York-based ImClone. “We really do create an oncology powerhouse,” Lilly CEO John Lechleiter said this […]
Eli Lilly and Co.’s frustrating attempt to get a ruling from federal regulators on its experimental blood thinner prasugrel may be a test case of life under a more cautious-and understaffed-U.S. Food and Drug Administration. That’s the opinion taken by many pharmaceutical analysts after the FDA missed its self-imposed Sept. 26 deadline to make a ruling on prasugrel. The FDA already had delayed its decision by three months after it agreed to give prasugrel a “priority” review lasting six months….
Pathway Productions, one of the city’s highest-profile video production firms, has a new owner, a new CEO and a new plan to blaze a trail to prosperity. Michael Husain, who founded the company from his basement in 1996, earlier this year quietly sold a majority stake to Mays Chemical Co. President William Mays, who in turn named Jerald Harkness the new CEO.
Local companies that rely on credit have seen their borrowing power shrink and in some cases disappear as a deep freeze
in the nation’s credit markets drives fears of a broad economic slowdown. A handful of businesses, including
a Greenwood security firm and an Indianapolis contractor, already have shut down after credit dried up,
and others are on the ropes as troubled banks seek to limit their loan exposure.
Underlying the financial turmoil is a significantly dreary problem in housing markets. It is a bit easier to understand, but understanding will almost certainly lead to anger and frustration. The 1995 revisions to the Community Reinvestment Act specifically permitted subprime loans. The intent was laudable enough, to provide lower-income Americans a chance to buy homes and force financing to local businesses. The former worked quite well, but in a 2004 academic paper I reported minimal effect of lending on rural…
Reader beware: You may not have the willpower to resist the draw of Hulu. I realize that sounds a little strange, as if the service itself is drawing some sort of mind-melding power from Spock or exhibiting the addictive draw of caffeine. The truth is far more sinister. This is television on demand-on steroids-with movies thrown in just to destroy any remnant of your ability to fight it. I’m talking about Hulu (www.hulu.com), a joint venture of NBC Universal and…
Managing the balance sheet. The very phrase is s l e e p – i n d u c i n g . But in times like these, doing it well is what separates the winners from the losers. In the winners’ column is Simon Property Group Inc., which finds itself on the offensive as competitors, including Chicago-based General Growth Properties Inc., lean back on their heels. In the losers’ column is Emmis Communications Corp., which is saddled with more…
The woman chosen as president and CEO of the city’s Super Bowl host committee isn’t exactly a household name, but those who hired her think she’ll make Indianapolis the best host city ever. Allison Melangton, 46, is the first paid member of the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Host Committee, and is expected to throw planning and organization into overdrive over the next 30 days.
FAST Diagnostics quickly is becoming one of the more promising companies in Indiana University’s efforts to commercialize its discoveries. Incorporated in November 2006, it is developing a method to measure kidney function faster and more accurately than existing techniques can. While FAST represents speed, the name actually stands for functional assessment and surveillance technology. The fledgling firm so far has attracted more than $4 million from investors, including $2 million from the state’s 21st Century Fund. BioCrossroads, Rose Hulman Ventures…
The word bailout is being used more than the folks at Merriam-Webster ever could have imagined. Yet, bailout is the wrong term to characterize the rescue plan the Federal Reserve and the Treasury presented to Congress. Our leaders have done a poor job explaining why. At present, the U.S. financial system is in cardiac arrest, and this plan is the defibrillator designed to jolt the system back to life. The crux of the problem is that banks and other financial…
Signs of hope as many retreat Some shrug off economic fears The front page of this week’s IBJ tells of companies that are in dire straits-or out of business-after banks, jittery about a financial collapse, called their loans or canceled their credit line. Stories like these put a local face on the economic crisis that has gripped the American psyche in the last two weeks unlike anything since the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Anyone who didn’t realize credit’s vital role…
An Alexander Calder mobile hangs above. Bronzes by Henry Moore and William de Kooning stand handsomely on the ground. The walls feature works on paper by Picasso, Pollock, Rembrandt, Miro and more. Ball State University Museum of Art’s collection is well worth lingering over. But I’m doing a lightening round because the museum is closing at 4:30 and I’ve spend the better part of the afternoon immersed in another Ball State Museum of Art. The one online. In Second Life….
Lots of people believe that campaign contributions and the influence that surrounds them are actually bribery. While it’s true that some contributions are made with no strings of any kind attached, still many voters find it difficult to believe that cam paign contributions don’t influence government in favor of the contributor. Others believe it’s part of free speech. I recognize that campaigns need money. How we contribute, however, can amount to bribery and undue influence. Democracy should be about ideas,…
Ruth Butterfield works as a tour guide at Beasley’s Orchard & Gardens three or four days a week every fall, leading
an average of two tours a day. Most are school groups, but some adults come with their church groups or
on nursing home outings, too.
A rush of government-aided acquisitions has bestowed a too-big-to-fail halo over the likes of JP Morgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup. But what about the formidable regional banks that operate more than half the bank branches in the Indianapolis area? How stable are banks like National City, Huntington, Fifth Third, Key, M&I and Regions? Their shares have endured a rough ride on Wall Street, but there’s little evidence the ups and downs reflect the true health of the institutions….
Snake was proprietor of the shoeshine stand at Cento Shoes on South Meridian Street and, like he said, he could “make your shoes shine like new money every time.” For over 27 years, he applied his spit and polish with lively commentary on any subject you chose. He was a downtown historian and authority on the local scene. Snake suffered from a variety of ailments, but it was arthritis that finally sent him into retirement. While watching him fold that…
The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision in Quanta Computer v. LG Electronics left LG stuck in “a royalty mess” that should inspire local businesses to review their patent licenses. More specifically, the decision raises important questions about the extent to which-and the cir cumstances under which-patent owners can collect royalties from more than one party in the distribution chain. Although the case arose out of the IT industry, its lessons could significantly impact Indiana life sciences companies. Collecting downstream In…
Ground should be broken late this month or in early November, with completion expected by summer. Cost of the 40,000-square-foot facility-4,000 square feet smaller than the one here-is estimated in the $8 million to $10 million range. While it may be a bit smaller in size, the scope is broader. The new incubator will promote both life sciences companies and information technology firms. That goal differs from the mission of the existing IU Emerging Technologies Center on 10th Street, which…
After the unexpected death of insurance magnate J. Patrick Rooney, two organizations he led until the day he died are scrambling
to figure out who will lead them into the future.
