Nastech Pharmaceutical Company Inc. announced today that it has promoted Dr. Gordon Brandt as president from the post of executive vice president for clinical research and medical affairs. He replaces Dr. Steven Quay, who will remain the chairman and chief executive. Quay said the move increases Brandt’s leadership role and will allow Quay to focus more on the company’s effort to establish MDRNA as an independent company and to focus more on its RNA-based therapies. Nastech will focus on developing drugs for use with its proprietary nasal delivery system. “Nastech has developed a strong clinical pipeline of innovative therapeutics using our proprietary drug delivery technologies,” Brandt said in a news release.
Washington Post raises daily price
The Washington Post will raise the newsstand price of its daily edition from 35 cents to 50 cents at the end of the year, the paper announced Thursday. The home delivery price will remain 35 cents. The Sunday paper will remain $1.50 both at the newsstand and for home delivery.
Regulators OK DoubleClick sale
Antitrust regulators approved Google Inc.’s $3.1 billion purchase of DoubleClick Inc., clearing the way for a formidable combination in the burgeoning online advertising sector. Microsoft Corp. and AT&T Inc. have lobbied heavily against the deal, but the Federal Trade Commission gave it the go-ahead Thursday.
Tribune’s new owner takes over
Real estate magnate Sam Zell took control of newly private Tribune Co. on Thursday and began shaking up the newspaper and TV company the moment the $8.2 billion buyout he led closed, reshuffling the board, naming two top executives and promising more action ahead. Zell took on the CEO and chairman roles. The company owns television stations and nine daily newspapers, including the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times.
Rite Aid shares hit one-year low
Rite Aid Corp. shares fell to a 52-week low Thursday on sharply wider third-quarter losses, with fewer customers making holiday purchases or buying the cold and flu remedies that typically boost sales this time of year. The nation’s third-largest drugstore chain lowered its 2008 profit outlook for the second time this year, prompting a sell-off that drove shares briefly as low as $2.71. They closed at $3.02.
Wagoner steers GM to right road
While his critics might say he’s taken too long, Rick Wagoner has started to turn the giant freighter known as General Motors Corp. Since a devastating $10.6 billion loss in 2005, the company has cut labor and other costs, expanded sales overseas and moved to upgrade products. But just as years of work start to right the once-plodding industrial giant, Wagoner is faced with a gloomy U.S. auto market that could hamper recovery. Yet the 54-year-old chairman and chief executive is optimistic and said his company is far better positioned to weather a tough 2008 than it was during past downturns.
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