Enzon Pharma cuts more jobs, to stop drug development

Enzon Pharmaceuticals Inc said it will suspend all clinical development activities, days after the cancer drug developer decided to explore a possible sale. The company, in which activist investor Carl Icahn has a 13.29 percent stake, spent about $4 million last quarter on pipeline research and development and had cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities of $288.7 million as of September 30. It will also reduce its workforce from 43 employees to about 23-28, Enzon said. Last September, it laid off about half its workforce. The biotechnology company has two drugs in mid-stage trials and a number of others in early-stage studies. Enzon, whose revenue mainly comes from royalty payments, will incur about $1.4 million in charges related to the reduction in force and expects to record charges in the first quarter of 2013. Shares of Enzon, which has a market capitalization of about $200 million, closed at $4.50 on Thursday on the Nasdaq.

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Federal appeals court rules against Hobby Lobby on contraception

A federal appeals court on Thursday rejected a claim by an arts and crafts chain that wants to be exempted from a requirement to provide emergency contraceptives to employees because it violates the religious principles of its owners. The Court of Appeals in Denver ruled against family-owned Hobby Lobby's assertion that the religious beliefs of its owners should relieve them from providing the "morning after" and "week after" pills to their employees, as required under President Barack Obama's signature health care reforms. Hobby Lobby vowed to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. "The Green family is disappointed with this ruling," said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which is assisting Hobby Lobby in the legal case. "The Greens will continue to make their case on appeal that this unconstitutional mandate infringes their right to earn a living while remaining true to their faith." The medications at issue are classified as emergency contraceptives by the Food and Drug Administration, but the owners of Hobby Lobby call them "abortion-inducing drugs" because they are often taken after conception. The lawsuit is among 42 legal actions that have been filed over the issue, according to the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a non-profit law firm in Washington, D.C. The company faces fines of up to $1.3 million daily if it disobeys the mandate, which takes effect on January 1 for Hobby Lobby, a $3 billion chain, and its smaller sister operation, Mardel, a Christian-oriented bookstore and educational supply company. Both companies are owned by the Green family of Oklahoma City, whose patriarch, David Green, is ranked 79th on Forbes Magazine's list of the 400 richest Americans, with a net worth of $4.5 billion. The family operates 514 Hobby Lobby stores in 41 states and employ 13,240 people. Inspirational Christian music is played in the stores, which are closed on Sundays. U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton of the Western District of Oklahoma ruled on November 19 that the privately-owned companies are secular, for-profit enterprises that do not possess the same religious rights as the individual members of the family.

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China probes Yum Brands' KFC over safety of chicken products

Yum Brands Inc's fast-food chain KFC was supplied with chicken in China that contained excessive amounts of antibiotics, said food safety authorities investigating allegations of tainted KFC products. The finding by the Shanghai Food and Drug Administration (SFDA) deals a blow to KFC's reputation in China, where it is facing fierce competition from the likes of Taiwanese-owned fried chicken chain Dico and Japanese-style noodle chain Ajisen (China) Holdings Ltd. Yum Brands has forecast a drop in same store China sales in the fourth quarter. Eight of the 19 batches of chicken samples Yum Brands sent to a testing laboratory in 2010 and 2011 contained overly high levels of antibiotics, the SFDA said in a statement on its Website late on Thursday. An investigation is underway to determine whether Yum Brands had taken corrective measures at that time, and the Louisville, Kentucky-based company may face harsh penalties if the probe showed laws had been violated, the SFDA said. Shares in Yum Brands have slumped 4 percent since December 18 when China's state television CCTV reported that some poultry suppliers in eastern Shandong province had fed chickens with anti-viral drugs and hormones to accelerate their growth. The SFDA is looking into the CCTV report and has not released its findings yet, but authorities in Shandong have already shut two chicken farms in eastern China, including one that supplied KFC and McDonald's Corp, the official Shanghai Daily newspaper reported on Thursday. Officials at Yum Brands in China could not be immediately reached for comment. KFC's subsidiary in China has pledged to cooperate with the authorities, while McDonald's wrote on its official microblog that its chicken and raw materials pass through independent, third-party laboratory tests. Shares in Yum Brands, which also owns Pizza Hut and Taco Bell, closed 1 percent lower at $69.49 in New York on Thursday. China has been trying to stamp out health violations that have dogged the country's food sector amid reports of fake cooking oil, tainted milk and even exploding watermelons. In 2008, milk laced with the industrial chemical melamine killed at least six children and sickened nearly 300,000.

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Reports: Rolling Stones guitarist Wood ties knot

Two British newspapers say Rolling Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood has married his fiancee Sally Humphreys at a ceremony at London's Dorchester Hotel. The Sun and the Daily Mirror carried photographs of the 65-year-old rocker with a pale boutonniere and a dark blue suit, and his 34-year-old bride in a traditional white gown and a clutch of matching white flowers. The Sun quoted Wood as saying "I'm feeling great" as he and his bride kissed and posed for pictures outside the exclusive hotel in London's upscale Mayfair district. The newspapers said the guests included singer Rod Stewart and his wife Penny Lancaster as well as ex-Beatle Paul McCartney and his wife Nancy Shevell. A call and an email to Wood's U.S.-based agent weren't immediately returned Saturday.

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Buju Banton awaits ruling in mistrial request

A Florida juror who voted to convict Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton on drug charges has denied improperly researching the case during trial, in spite of a weekly newspaper's report that quoted her as saying that she did. Banton is serving a 10-year prison sentence on two drug charges. The Grammy winner faces an additional five years on a related gun possession charge, but his resentencing hearing was postponed to investigate the report of juror misconduct. Banton's attorneys have filed a motion in Tampa federal court seeking a new trial. If granted, it would be the second mistrial for Banton, whose first trial in 2010 ended with jurors deadlocked. He was convicted in 2011 in his second trial. U.S. District Judge James Moody reserved decision Thursday on the defense motion. Jurors were told during trial not to do any independent research into the case. Terri Wright, a juror from Banton's 2011 trial, was quoted in a Miami New Times report as saying that she researched parts of the case, in spite of the judge's orders not to. "I would get in the car, just write my notes down so I could remember, and I would come home and do the research," Wright was quoted as saying. New Times reporter Chris Sweeney testified Thursday that he interviewed several jurors. The Tampa Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/RLgxXO) that Sweeney provided the court with a recording of his interview with Wright. Wright testified that she sent Sweeney a text message after seeing his story, saying there had been "a huge misunderstanding with (Sweeney's) questions." Wright's text message also read, "I did not violate the judge's instructions with this case. I did my research AFTER the case was over and the verdict was given, NOT during the case. . I trusted you and now feel totally betrayed." Wright testified that she only researched Banton's music and the federal Pinkerton rule, which involves liability among conspirators for the actions of other conspirators. There was no proof that Banton possessed a gun or was aware that a co-defendant did, but because of the Pinkerton rule, Banton was convicted of a weapons offense. Moody tossed the gun charge, but an appeals court reversed that decision. Moody called a sampling of three other jurors to ask if they remembered hearing other jury members talk about doing outside research. Two testified that had not heard anything, but one said she recalled a white woman juror saying she had researched the Pinkerton law. Wright is black. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston said Banton's defense had not met the legal requirement for a mistrial by showing that the jury was exposed to outside evidence that posed a reasonable possibility of prejudice to the defendant. Defense lawyer Chokwe Lumumba said jurors were ready to acquit Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, before Wright shared her research.

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Reggae's Buju Banton awaits ruling on mistrial

A Florida juror who voted to convict Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton on drug charges has denied improperly researching the case during trial, despite a weekly newspaper's report that quoted her as saying that she did. Banton is serving a 10-year prison sentence for his convictions on cocaine conspiracy and trafficking charges stemming from a 2009 arrest. The Grammy winner faces an additional five years for his conviction on a related gun possession charge, but his resentencing hearing was postponed to investigate the report of juror misconduct. Banton's attorneys have filed a motion in Tampa federal court seeking a new trial. If granted, it would be the second mistrial for Banton, whose first trial in 2010 ended with jurors deadlocked. He was convicted in 2011 in his second trial. U.S. District Judge James Moody reserved judgment Thursday on the defense motion. Jurors were told during the trial not to do any independent research into the case. Terri Wright, a juror from Banton's 2011 trial, was quoted in a Miami New Times report as saying that she researched parts of the case even though the judge had ordered jurors not to. "I would get in the car, just write my notes down so I could remember, and I would come home and do the research," Wright was quoted as saying. New Times reporter Chris Sweeney testified Thursday that he interviewed several jurors. Sweeney also provided the court with a recording of his interview with Wright. Wright testified that she sent Sweeney a text message after seeing his story, saying there had been "a huge misunderstanding with (Sweeney's) questions." Wright's text message also read, "I did not violate the judge's instructions with this case. I did my research AFTER the case was over and the verdict was given, NOT during the case. . I trusted you and now feel totally betrayed." Wright testified that she only researched Banton's music and the federal Pinkerton rule, which involves liability among conspirators for the actions of other conspirators. There was no proof that Banton possessed a gun or was aware that a co-defendant did, but because of the Pinkerton rule, Banton was convicted of a weapons offense. Moody tossed the gun charge, but an appeals court reversed that decision. Wright said she told Sweeney that she had been a juror seven times before serving on Banton's case, but she did not volunteer that information to prosecutors or Banton's attorneys "because that wasn't a question" during jury selection. Moody called a sampling of three other jurors to ask if they remembered hearing other jury members talk about doing outside research. Two testified that had not heard anything, but one said she recalled a white female juror saying she had researched the Pinkerton law. Wright is black. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Preston said Banton's defense had not met the legal requirement for a mistrial by showing that the jury was exposed to outside evidence that posed a reasonable possibility of prejudice to the defendant. Defense lawyer Chokwe Lumumba said jurors were ready to acquit Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, before Wright shared her research.

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Swedish princess to marry next June

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Sweden's royal family says Princess Madeleine's wedding will take place on Saturday, June 8, at the Royal Palace chapel in downtown Stockholm. King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia's youngest daughter was engaged to U.S.-British boyfriend Christopher O'Neill, a 38-year-old New York banker, in late October. The 30-year-old Madeleine is fourth in line to the Swedish throne. The royal family's chief spokesman Bertil Tenert said Sunday that wedding organizers will now start planning details of the nuptials. He added that Madeleine's wedding will be smaller than Crown Princess Victoria's wedding two years ago in Stockholm. The Swedish royal family has only ceremonial duties, such as supporting charities and promoting Swedish businesses.

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