Business news in brief

Merck & Co. Inc.

yesterday said it would restructure into five divisions after it completes its buyout of

Schering-Plough Corp.

for $41.1 billion. Richard Clark will remain chief executive officer of the new company, which will have five primary divisions: Global Human Health, Animal Health, Consumer Health Care, Merck Research Laboratories, and Merck Manufacturing. Three of those divisions - global human health, research, and manufacturing - already have operations at Merck's Montgomery County facilities, which will remain there after the merger. Merck employs 12,000 at its vaccine and other operations in Montco.

- Miriam Hill

A new

AstraZeneca P.L.C.

drug to prevent blood clots in heart patients reduced their chances of dying by more than 20 percent compared with the standard treatment, new research says. Researchers followed 18,624 patients worldwide from 2006 to 2008. About half were taking clopidogrel, known as Plavix, while the other half were taking the experimental AstraZeneca drug called ticagrelor, or Brilinta. Those on Brilinta had a 4.5 percent chance of dying vs. a 5.9 percent death risk for patients on Plavix. The research was paid for by AstraZeneca. The company has U.S. operations in Wilmington, plus a subsidiary conducting business in Philadelphia and Bensalem.

- AP

Peco Energy Co.

has completed a $22 million upgrade of its electric substation in the Grays Ferry section of Philadelphia, one of 11 substations serving Center City and South Philadelphia. Earlier this year, the Philadelphia utility spent $18 million to rebuild its nearby Schuylkill substation. John McDonald, Peco vice president of technical services, said those two projects addressed potential operational issues identified in 2006.

- Inquirer staff

A top House Democrat is investigating whether the nation's largest health insurers have deliberately canceled coverage for small businesses after their employees became sick and sought expensive treatment.

Rep. Henry Waxman

(D., Calif.) sent letters to six insurers requesting details about their plans for small businesses and how coverage decisions were made. Waxman is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

Aetna Inc.

,

UnitedHealth Group Inc.

,

WellPoint Inc.

,

Humana Inc.

,

Medica

and

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield

received the letters. America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents the companies, said Waxman's investigation was designed to smear private insurers and bolster support for a public insurance option.

- AP

Boeing Co.

says Scott Carson will step down today as head of the commercial-airplane division and retire at the end of the year. Boeing says Carson will be succeeded by the head of its defense business, Jim Albaugh. Boeing says Dennis Muilenburg, who was president of its military support and services business, succeeds Albaugh as president and chief executive officer of the defense business.

- AP

Oil field-services company

Baker Hughes Inc.

said it would buy

BJ Services Co.

in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.5 billion to diversify the services it offers and compete better with industry leaders. Baker Hughes customers will get a one-stop shop for a variety of services.

- AP

Jerome Kerviel

, blamed by

Societe Generale

for a $7.03 billion trading loss last year, will stand trial on charges of falsifying documents, abuse of trust, and computer hacking, his attorney said. The order will come in a letter today from the judges leading the investigation,

Olivier Metzner

, Kerviel's attorney, said in a telephone interview. He said he was notified of the letter by the judges. Throughout the inquiry, Kerviel said that his supervisors knew of his actions and that he made no personal gains from the trades. He said his goal was to raise his profile and make money for the bank.

- Bloomberg News

A federal judge rejected contentions by

American International Group Inc.

that a private company run by its former chief executive officer,

Maurice Greenberg

, breached its duty to the insurer by selling $4.3 billion of AIG stock. U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in New York ruled that Greenberg's firm,

Starr International Co.

, or SICO, did not violate a duty to hold AIG shares after 2005. Rakoff upheld a jury's July 7 verdict finding no such breach.

- Bloomberg News

Two of the largest U.S. tobacco companies filed suit against federal authorities, saying a law that gives the Food and Drug Administration new authority over tobacco violates their right to free speech.

R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.

and

Lorillard Inc.

filed the federal lawsuit with several other tobacco companies. Part of the bill, passed in June, covers cigarette marketing. The lawsuit does not challenge the decision to give the FDA authority over tobacco products. But the companies say they are prohibited from such actions as using "color lettering, trademarks, logos, or any other imagery in most advertisements," according to the 46-page complaint.

- AP

Interest rates on six-month Treasury bills fell to the lowest point on records that go back more than 50 years. The

Treasury Department

yesterday auctioned $29 billion in six-month bills at a discount rate of 0.240 percent. That is down from 0.255 percent last week, and an all-time low since the government started issuing the bills weekly in December 1958. An additional $30 billion in three-month bills were auctioned at a discount rate of 0.150 percent, down from 0.165 percent last week. That rate was the lowest since 0.135 percent on April 30. The discount rates reflect that the bills sell for less than face value. For a $10,000 bill, the three-month price was $9,996.21, while a six-month bill sold for $9,987.87.

- AP

The

Federal Reserve

said yesterday that the average yield for one-year Treasury bills, a popular index for making changes in adjustable-rate mortgages, edged up to 0.45 percent last week from 0.44 percent the previous week.

- AP