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Push for personal medicine boosts firm: Software developer RND is busy working on gene-based diagnostic devices

The future of medicine is personal. That’s been the mantra of the pharmaceutical industry for the last decade-since the human genome was sequenced for the first time. But before Eli Lilly and Co. and its peers can develop and sell drugs that treat only patients with a specific gene, it needs sophisticated devices to test if a patient has that gene. And those devices need sophisticated software to make them run. That’s where The RND Group Inc. comes in. The…

Lawsuits stem from hiring of sales reps: Big device makers battle to protect trade secrets

A spate of lawsuits involving the state’s largest medical-device makers underscores the fiercely competitive nature of the life sciences sector, particularly when the billion-dollar companies need to protect trade secrets. Warsaw orthopedics manufacturer Biomet Inc., Indiana’s fourth-largest private company, is at the center of much of the messy litigation, which stems from a former sales representative’s move to rival Zimmer Holdings Inc., also based in Warsaw. In two unrelated lawsuits, Biomet sued in July 2007 the Kentucky sales rep and…

A&E: Searching for fair art

Most weeks, I use a pretty traditional definition of arts and entertainment when I decide what to review in this column. But that’s most weeks. This time, after a day-opening day-at the Indiana State Fair, I’m going to broaden my criteria a bit. Looked at with open eyes, the Indiana State Fair is one massive piece of performance art, with thousands of artists participating (most of them unknowingly). The kids in their band uniforms trying to pretend sweat isn’t pouring…

Study costs, public support mount for commuter rail: Key vote on northeast corridor could come next month

Worsening gas prices and congestion have some commuters demanding faster progress on launching a rapid transit line. They can quibble about slowness in getting it done, but lack of study hasn’t been an issue. The Indianapolis Metropolitan Development Organization spent $4 million since 2002 on a rapid transit study that concluded earlier this year, according to records provided by the agency. Most, or 80 percent, of the funds paid to eight consulting firms came from federal transportation funds, with 20…

EYE ON THE PIE: This railroad deal is a good deal

Let’s get burritogate out of the way and proceed to more substantive, if less spicy, matters. Yes, a guy who works for the Canadian National Railroad paid for a burrito and a beer that I consumed. He did not know then that I wrote this column and hence commanded a vast, influential audience. I did not know then that he had a project to represent. But CN (as the rail line is called) has a most significant project going. It…

Lilly unloads long-time research operations in Greenfield: Buyer Covance plans to keep all 260 local employees

But the Indianapolis-based drugmaker hopes Indiana sees no net loss of jobs from its restructuring moves. The Aug. 6 announcement is part of a quickening effort by Lilly to reduce overhead costs before it loses patent protection on a string of drugs, which now make up 60 percent of its revenue. In Greenfield, Lilly is selling its labs for toxicology and other drug development tests to New Jersey-based Covance Inc., a contract research organization. Covance is paying Lilly $50 million…

ECONOMIC ANALYSIS: Why Indiana’s AAA bond rating should please all of us

Sometimes, obscure economic issues matter a great deal to our economic well-being. One example is the news that Indiana’s bond rankings have risen to the highest level, the highly coveted AAA ranking from Standard and Poor’s. Why that happened, what it means and why it is important should matter to Hoosiers. To begin with, all states, like virtually all households, borrow money to ease cash flow issues. States also borrow money to make infrastructure investments. The government essentially takes out…

Mayor’s Action Center might be privatized to cure chronic woes

Maybe it’s a stray dog rooting through your garbage. Perhaps someone has abandoned a car amid the potholes riddling your
street. Either way, Indianapolis offers a one-stop shop for irate residents to complain. Just dial the Mayor’s
Action Center at 327-4MAC. Then get ready to wait. And wait. So long, in fact, that close to half of the
MAC’s callers hang up in frustration.

SPORTS: Games are-or should be-all about the athletes

At the same time, those same athletes, thrust into the spotlight, will find their failures magnified along with their successes. Media who normally shun gymnastics, or aquatic sports, or track and field, or cycling, or rowing, or even Taekwondo, will suddenly become instant experts, lifting up the victors and damning the vanquished. How well I know. It was my good fortune to cover three Olympics for the local daily: Seoul in 1988, Barcelona in 1992, and Atlanta in 1996. The…

INVESTING: Candid e-mails chip away at Wall Street’s credibility

E-mail, today’s ubiquitous form of communication, is proving to be the smoking gun in a number of recent financial fiascos. The Securities and Exchange Commission recently released a draft of its investigation into the behavior of bond-rating firms during the subprime-mortgage-securitization craze. The report highlighted e-mails expressing the sentiment of the authors during the period-a sentiment in conflict with the Wall Street sales pitch being used to sell these securities to investors. One e-mail a Standard & Poor’s analyst sent…

VOICES FROM THE INDUSTRY: Genetic info act will do more than stop discrimination

The promise of personalized medicine-genetic tests that allow more informed and individualized health care decisions-has been blocked in recent times as patients struggle with the fear that those same genetic test results could bring genetic discrimination in the form of cancelled health insurance coverage or even the catastrophe of job loss. In 1997, Indiana enacted a state law protecting genetic screening or testing and prohibiting health insurers from considering any information obtained from such testing in a manner adverse to…

Stadium’s flexibility should help attract extra events: But some experts say stadiums are still a hard sell

Lucas Oil Stadium can be a jack of all trades. Hang rigging from its ceiling, lower built-in sound-absorbing curtains over most of the seats, and it can host a fairly intimate 20,000-seat concert. Roll out the temporary floor to cover the turf, part and pack away one side of the bleachers, and it can stretch to be a convention hall, boasting 183,000 square feet of contiguous exhibition space plus 12 meeting rooms, a welcome plaza and party deck. But the…

Commentary: Let’s invest in criminal justice

Indianapolis has spent more than $2 billion on worthy civic projects such as the new airport terminal, Lucas Oil Stadium, and a new Central Library. The same sense of civic pride must be mobilized for funding improved criminal justice. Strong, coherent mayoral leadership is required to address the causes of increased criminal activity here, but a lasting solution requires a community-wide effort. Criminal activity is not simply the result of an individual’s motivation to offend. For crime to occur, the…

$720 million stadium will open with big operating deficit

Cleaning crews are wiping construction dust from the 63,000 seats in Lucas Oil Stadium, prepping for the public’s first peek at the $720 million venue Aug. 16. But the hard work is only beginning for the city’s Capital Improvement Board, the entity charged with operating the stadium. The fumbling point: CIB is anticipating a $20 million operating deficit for Lucas Oil Stadium in 2009.

NOTIONS: Blessings and benefits of bestowing that first break

Dear Win: I’m writing to say thank you. I’m not sure I’ve ever adequately done that. I’m not sure I ever can. I’m also not sure I ever quite grasped the gamble you took on me when I was a not-even-graduated college senior 28 years ago-not until the resumes and referral requests started filling my inbox and the risks of hiring rookies sank in. But this isn’t just between you and me. I hope this letter will prompt others to…

Commentary: Energy woes need quick, lasting fix

Last month, the front page of The Wall Street Journal featured 25-yearold Saeed Khouri, who paid at auction the equivalent of $14 million of our increasingly worthless American dollars for a license plate bearing “1.” His cousin, Talal Khouri, threw in $9 million in pocket change for tag “5” to tool around Abu Dhabi in his Rolls Royce. Get this, the Khouris declined to be interviewed because they didn’t want to be the center of attention. I am not particularly…

Repairs slated for crumbling 39th Street bridge: Federal funding could draw criticism from watchdogs

Each year, the 30,000 people who ride the Fishers fair train disembark at a depot east of Fall Creek and shuffle 228 feet across the historic 39th Street bridge, which leads to Gate 6 of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Few likely give much thought to the crumbling condition of the bridge, other than noticing that a large block of stone railing has broken off at the west end. But, below, stones also have fallen off the sides of an arch…

Stadium scores Colts 30-percent sponsorship increase: Entertainment in 14 themed areas starts four hours before kick-off; strategy gains notice from other NFL teams

The Indianapolis Colts will score almost $18 million annually through their new stadium’s title sponsorship and deals with 14 founding sponsors, each of which has its own themed area of the stadium’s interior. Including sponsor agreements for two massive video boards at each end of the stadium, a narrower video board circling the upper reaches of the lower bowl, and other in-stadium deals, the Colts should bring in $20 million, 30 percent more than in the RCA Dome, according to…

BEHIND THE NEWS: Software maker off target with timing for $86M IPO

When it came to timing its initial public offering, ExactTarget Inc. didn’t exactly hit a bull’s-eye. The Indianapolis-based maker of e-mail marketing software filed to go public in mid-December, well into the market swoon that began before Halloween. Since then, the market’s only gotten spookier. The S&P 500 has shed another 13 percent, leaving the bellwether index 18 percent off its October high. Not surprisingly, ExactTarget is stuck at the starting gate. It hasn’t moved forward with launching its $86…