Business news in brief

AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals L.P. must pay Alabama $215 million, a jury said after finding the company inflated drug prices charged to the state's Medicaid program. The company is a unit of AstraZeneca P.L.C., which has U.S. headquarters near Wilmington. The state court jury in Montgomery, Ala., awarded $40 million in compensatory damages and $175 million in punitive damages after deliberating for 45 minutes. The jury in Montgomery County Circuit Court found the company liable for misrepresentation and fraudulent concealment. AstraZeneca is the first of more than 70 drugmakers sued by Alabama to go to trial. "AstraZeneca believes this lawsuit is legally and factually unfounded, and we intend to appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court if the trial court does not reject the jury's verdict" in a posttrial order, the company said in a statement.

- Bloomberg News

Entercom Communications Corp., the Bala Cynwyd owner of radio stations in San Francisco and Boston, reported a fourth-quarter loss after writing down the value of assets in three markets. The net loss of $9.36 million, or 25 cents a share, compares with net income of $6.94 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier, Entercom said in a statement. Sales rose 1.9 percent to $120.6 million, beating the $118.3 million average estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

- Bloomberg News

Bill Hornbuckle, president and chief operating officer of the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas, will oversee MGM Mirage's massive $5 billion casino-hotel project in Atlantic City. The announcement was made by MGM Mirage, Las Vegas, yesterday. Hornbuckle, a 25-year gambling industry veteran, will retain his current position at the MGM Atlantic City casino. MGM co-owns the Borgata with Boyd Gaming Corp. When complete, MGM Grand Atlantic City will be the largest hotel and the largest casino in Atlantic City, with 3,000 rooms.

- Suzette Parmley

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C.'s pre-pandemic influenza vaccine was recommended for sale by the European Medicines Agency, the first shot to prevent a human version of the virus that has killed millions of birds since 2003. The European equivalent of the Food and Drug Administration gave a so-called positive opinion on the vaccine, called Prepandrix, to protect people against the H5N1 virus strain, the agency said in a statement. GlaxoSmithKline has a U.S. headquarters in Philadelphia.

- Bloomberg News

US Airways expects to report a first-quarter loss because of high fuel costs and uncertain economic conditions, the airline said in a regulatory filing yesterday. US Airways, which has about 61 percent of the traffic at Philadelphia International Airport, did not say in the Securities and Exchange Commission filing how much the loss may be. The airline said that if current conditions persist through 2008, it is "well-positioned due to our current cash position and debt restructurings over the past two years." US Airways reported a net loss of $79 million in the 2007 fourth quarter.

- Tom Belden

Financial-services and software company SunGard Data Systems Inc., Wayne, said net income for the quarter ended Dec. 31 was $30 million on revenue of $1.39 billion, compared with a loss of $11 million on revenue of $1.19 billion a year earlier. Privately held SunGard reported a net loss of $60 million on revenue of $4.9 billion for all of 2007.

- Reid Kanaley

Sovereign Bancorp Inc., reeling from its exposure to risky housing-related loans, said it was replacing its chief financial officer. The Philadelphia parent company of Sovereign Bank said Mark R. McCollom agreed to step down as financial chief. The company named Kirk W. Walters to replace him, effective March 3. Walters, 52, joins Sovereign from Chittenden Corp., which was acquired by People's United Financial Inc. in January. Walters has been chief financial officer at Chittenden since 1996. McCollom, who joined Sovereign in 1996, will receive a $2.1 million cash payment and $825,500 in other severance-related payments, and he will remain with the company until May 30 to aid in the transition.

- Dow Jones Newswires

Novavax Inc. will sell its Malvern plant and rights to its Estrasorb estrogen product to treat symptoms of menopause to Graceway Pharmaceuticals Inc. Novavax, formerly of Malvern and now based in Rockville, Md., said it would sell patent rights in North America and all production equipment for Estrasorb, a soy-based lotion, to Graceway, Bristol, Tenn. Novavax president and chief executive officer Rahul Singhvi said the transaction with Graceway will generate more than $2 million in cash flow for Novavax in 2008 and allow the company to focus on its core vaccine business. Novavax retains commercialization rights to Estrasorb outside the United States. Novavax is developing pandemic and seasonal influenza vaccines. Novavax shares closed down 8 cents, or 2.81 percent, at $2.77 on the Nasdaq.

- Linda Loyd

InfoLogix Inc., Hatboro, said it was poised to launch a real-time wireless technology aimed at reducing surgical mistakes in hospitals. The technology, SurgiChip, uses radio-frequency identification technology to document that a surgical team performs the correct procedure on the proper patient at the right hospital before the start of surgery. The technology provides an electronic audit trail and electronic verification. InfoLogix will publicly launch the technology at a meeting next week in Orlando, Fla. InfoLogix shares closed down 2 cents, or 1.07 percent, at $1.66 on the Nasdaq.

- Linda Loyd

Electronic-instrument-maker Ametek Inc., Paoli, said it acquired Drake Air Inc., Tulsa, Okla., a provider of heat-transfer repair services to the aerospace industry. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Privately held Drake Air has expected annual sales of $15 million, Ametek said. Drake Air becomes a unit of Ametek Aerospace & Defense, a supplier of engine- and aircraft-monitoring systems and other aircraft equipment. Ametek had 2007 sales of $2.1 billion. Its shares closed up 35 cents yesterday, at $42.76 on the New York Stock Exchange.

- Reid Kanaley

Freddie Mac, the mortgage company, reported that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages averaged 6.04 percent this week, up from 5.72 percent last week. Rates on one-year adjustable-rate mortgages dipped slightly to 4.98 percent from 5.03 percent last week.

- AP

The British Parliament passed legislation that will allow the government to make Northern Rock P.L.C. the first sizable British bank to be nationalized in 25 years. News of an emergency loan to the struggling Northern Rock from the Bank of England last September had triggered the first run on a British bank in more than a century.

- AP