Business news in brief

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has finalized a process to encourage the use of acid mine drainage for hydraulic fracturing, part of an effort to reduce the use of freshwater in extracting oil and gas from shale. The DEP's white paper says that proposals to use "mine-influenced" water must include sampling and characterization of the water, as well as details about how the water will be transported, stored and used. More than 300 million gallons of water is discharged from abandoned coal mines each day, impairing more than 5,500 miles of Pennsylvania waterways. The DEP's white paper can be obtained on the agency's website: http://bit.ly/TL7hld. - Andrew Maykuth

The owner of vacant land in Philadelphia once intended for development as Trump Tower Philadelphia filed a petition for Chapter 11 protection in Manhattan. The project was to include a hotel and condominium on the Delaware riverfront. The bankruptcy filing Monday by VTE Philadelphia L.P. was timed to halt foreclosure scheduled for Tuesday by secured lender U.S. Bank NA, which is owed $16.9 million. Trump Organization Inc. isn't the developer, Trump executive vice president Alan Garten said. "We licensed the name and terminated the relationship years ago," Garten said. The property is located north of the Benjamin Franklin Bridge. - Bloomberg News

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C., which has large operations in the Philadelphia region, will invest $50 million in a $250 million venture capital fund to help early-stage biotechnology companies develop new medicines. The fund will invest in U.S. companies and will be managed by San Mateo, Calif.-based Sanderling Ventures, a Glaxo spokeswoman said. London-based Glaxo, the only large pharmaceutical company investing in the fund, will have a seat on the limited partner advisory committee. - Bloomberg News

Shire P.L.C., the Dublin-based drugmaker with U.S. headquarters in Chester County, will continue hunting for acquisitions to expand its rare diseases business, said CEO-designate Flemming Ornskov, adding that selling the company is not on his agenda. Shire announced in October that Ornskov would succeed CEO Angus Russell on April 30. Ornskov joined Shire this week from Bayer AG. The company said Tuesday it bought Mass.-based Lotus Tissue Repair Inc., a closely held developer of a treatment for a rare genetic skin disease, for an undisclosed sum. - Bloomberg News

The Community College of Philadelphia began accepting applications for its first business-education class through the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. Up to 30 small-business owners will be selected to participate in the free, 14-week program that will begin May 31. Applications, which are due March 13, are available at www.ccp.edu/10ksb. Philadelphia small-business owners interested in applying for loans between $50,000 and $750,000 through the program can do so through the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corp.'s website at www.pidc-pa.org/10ksb. - Mike Armstrong

Trying to reduce the 15,000-plus annual deaths from inappropriate use of prescription opioid painkillers, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued draft guidance to assist and encourage pharmaceutical companies in developing new forms of the drugs to deter abuse. Some addicts swallow too many pills. Others crush pills to snort or inject the drug. FDA officials declined to say what incentives might be used for companies, but suggested that valid data from rigorous clinical trials could result in specific labeling, which might give drugmakers an edge with doctors and insurers. Officials would not discuss an ongoing dispute with Chadds Ford-based Endo Health Solutions Inc., which wants market exclusivity for a less-crushable version of its painkiller Opana ER. - David Sell

Exton-based ViroPharma Inc.'s lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration over generic forms of its antibiotic Vancocin was dismissed by a federal court in Washington. The company failed to produce new evidence following rejection in April 2012 of its request for a court order to block FDA approval of three generic versions of Vancocin, according to a ruling by U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle. Vancocin is known generically as vancomycin. Vancocin, which is marketed for Clostridium difficile and other gastrointestinal infections, accounted for about $289 million in sales in 2011, about half of the drugmaker's revenue. - Bloomberg News

Published reports say the Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into nutrition and weight loss company Herbalife Ltd., whose business model has come under attack by a prominent investor. The Wall Street Journal cited an unidentified person close to the probe. The SEC and Herbalife both declined to comment. Los Angeles-based Herbalife has been grappling in recent weeks with questions about its business model, which uses a network of distributors to sell its products. Last month Pershing Square Capital Management's William Ackman said he was shorting Herbalife stock after concluding that the company was a pyramid scheme. In contrast, hedge fund manager Dan Loeb disclosed Wednesday the purchase of 8.9 million Herbalife shares. Herbalife is scheduled to hold an analyst meeting Thursday to address investor questions. - AP