Boeing forecasts strong global sales
Boeing Co. expects international sales to grow to more than double last year’s percentage of overall defense revenues over the next five years as the pace of U.S. military spending slows, the head of its defense business said Friday.
Jim Albaugh cited numerous defense opportunities for the company in India – including fighter jets, airborne early warning and control, and anti-submarine warfare airplanes – along with strong prospects in Japan, Korea, Singapore, Australia and various Mediterranean countries.
International revenues accounted for 7 percent of Boeing’s $32 billion in defense sales last year and Albaugh said they are on target to rise to 10 percent this year.
Little Rock
Wyeth wins first legal challenge
Wyeth won the first case in a series of lawsuits over its hormone replacement drugs on Friday when a federal jury rejected a woman’s claim the drugs caused her breast cancer.
A jury ruled against Linda Reeves, 67, in her suit against the New Jersey drugmaker, the first of about 4,500 against Wyeth over hormone drugs Premarin and Prempro. During the four-week trial, Reeves acknowledged not reading information supplied with the drug and said she left it up to her doctor to decide whether it was appropriate to treat symptoms of menopause.
Lyn Pruitt, an attorney for Wyeth, said the lawsuit was an “excellent” sign of how upcoming legal battles over the drugs would fare. Reeves’ lawyer disputed that notion.
washington
Contact lens availability argued
A contact-lens manufacturer and an online retailer squared off Friday while testifying at a House hearing over arrangements that limit the outlets available for some contact lenses.
Lawmakers in the Energy and Commerce subcommittee urged them to resolve their differences rather than request a legislative fix.
Jonathan Coon, CEO of 1-800 Contacts Inc., argued against agreements between contact-lens makers and eye-care providers that require consumers to purchase their lenses from a doctor or at select retailers. Coon said such distribution arrangements limit competition and force consumers to return to the same prescriber for future lens purchases. Lenses sold by eye care providers typically are pricier than those bought online.
Gregory Fryling, COO of CooperVision, disagreed. His company, a subsidiary of Cooper Cos., has refused to make its popular Proclear lens available to companies like 1-800 Contacts, arguing that working with such distributors could damage the “reputation and image” of its products.
pittsburgh
Dissidents elected to Heinz board
Billionaire Nelson Peltz and another dissident investor who sought changes at H.J. Heinz Co. were elected to the ketchup maker’s board, according to officially certified results released Friday.
Peltz and his ally, Michael F. Weinstein, won seats on the 12-member board along with 10 of the 12 people Heinz nominated.
Peltz, 64, and Weinstein were elected following a long battle over how to lift the company’s sagging stock price.