Page 24 - ARUBA TODAY

Wednesday 13 september 2017 BUSINESS
A24

Alexion Pharmaceuticals moving headquarters to Boston

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Island, manufacturing facil- pand the pipeline,” CEO where biotech is front and A letter to Smith from Hant-
Alexion Pharmaceuticals ity. Ludwig Hantson said in a center,” Hantson said on a son on Monday acknowl-
Inc. is relocating its head- Alexion said the moves statement.Alexion’s most conference call. edged the repayment.
quarters from New Haven, are expected to save high-profile drug is Soliris, a “Needless to say we will The Rhode Island Com-
Connecticut, to Boston about $270 million annu- treatment for two rare ge- have a larger talent pool of merce Corp. and the state
and cutting 20 percent of ally and allow the reinvest- netic immune system disor- people who have biotech Department of Labor and
its global workforce, the ment of about $100 million ders that has been called experience” in Massachu- Training said in a joint state-
company said Tuesday. a year into research and the world’s most expen- setts.The Connecticut De- ment that the plant closure
About 400 jobs will move development.“By stream- sive drug. It can cost up to partment of Economic and was disappointing and the
to Boston by the middle of lining our operations we $700,000 annually, accord- Community Development agencies would work to-
next year, though the com- will create a leaner orga- ing to a May story in Bloom- called the news “disap- gether to find new jobs for
pany will maintain a re- nization with greater finan- berg Businessweek. pointing” and said it would displaced employees.
search and development cial flexibility that is highly Alexion decided to move ask for the money back, Alexion is the latest of sev-
center in New Haven with focused on delivering for to Boston despite $26 mil- with penalties and interest. eral major companies to
about 450 employees, it patients, growing our rare lion in economic develop- Commissioner Catherine leave Connecticut, includ-
said. Alexion makes drugs disease business, and both ment aid from Connecti- Smith told The Hartford ing insurer Aetna Inc., which
to treat rare diseases. leveraging our leader- cut meant to jump-start Courant that Alexion of- will move to New York City
The cuts amount to about ship in complement and the state’s biotechnology ficials assured her they will next year, and General
600 positions, and the clo- pursuing disciplined busi- sector.“It’s important that refund the $26 million, with Electric, which moved to
sure of a Smithfield, Rhode ness development to ex- we are in an ecosystem interest and penalties. Boston last year.q
Nissan decries incremental change, seeks dramatic jumps

By YURI KAGEYAMA Atsuhiko Hayakawa, a cor-
AP Business Writer porate vice president who
YOKOHAMA, Japan (AP) heads powertrain produc-
— Aiming to get an edge tion at Nissan.
on its rivals in an intense- In an example at Nissan’s
ly competitive industry, Yokohama plant, shown
Japanese automaker Nis- to The Associated Press, a
san says it’s attempting to coating technology made
foster a corporate culture the metal liner of a cylinder
that will produce manu- block of an engine about
facturing innovations in the tenth of its previous
leaps and bounds instead thickness, from 2 millime-
of steady incremental im- ters (0.08 inches) to 0.2 mil-
provement. limeters (0.01 inches).
Its discussion of that effort Instead of trying to re-
is partly a swipe at bigger duce the cast-iron layer’s
competitor Toyota Motor thickness, bit by bit, a to-
Corp. which for decades tally new approach was
has favored the concept tried, spraying on molten
of “kaizen” or fine-tuning iron, said Hayakawa who
and bit-by-bit progress in speaks with a passionate
auto manufacturing. intensity rare for corpo-
Kaizen has earned Japa- rate Japan.The metal liner
nese automakers good technology has already
marks for reliability and A Nissan Motor Co. factory worker checks an engine on an assembly line at its plant in Yokoha- been introduced for the
ma, near Tokyo. Aiming to get an edge on its rivals in an intensely competitive industry, Japanese
quality and Toyota practi- automaker Nissan says it’s attempting to foster a corporate culture that will produce manufactur- GT-R sports car, but is now
cally defined it as its “way,” ing innovations in leaps and bounds instead of steady incremental improvement. Its discussion being expanded to other
emphasizing daily effort by of that effort is partly a swipe at bigger competitor Toyota Motor Corp. which for decades has models, such as the Path-
everyone from the low- favored the concept of “kaizen” or fine tuning and bit-by-bit progress in auto manufacturing. finder sport-utility vehicle,
est assembly worker to the (AP Photo/Shizuo Kambayashi) Infiniti QX60 luxury SUV and
chief executive. But Nissan the new Kicks global com-
Motor Co. says it is imple- dozens of ideas in its devel- you a 5 percent, maybe a we call ‘kakushin,’ to de- pact crossover, including
menting novel manufac- opment pipeline. 10 percent, improvement. liver change that’s a mul- production in Mexico and
turing methods and has “The old-style kaizen gives But our team’s goal is what tiple of the previous,” said China. q
In blow to Murdoch, UK refers Fox bid for Sky to regulator

By JILL LAWLESS Tuesday that she intended “minded” to refer it out of did not raise concerns 2018, “subject to any further
Associated Press to refer the takeover to the concerns about broad- about broadcast stan- delays in the decision-mak-
LONDON (AP) — The British Competition and Markets casting standards. Bradley dards. Ofcom has said that ing process.”Murdoch’s
government will refer Twen- Authority because of con- said there is a risk, “which the takeover could give media group is trying to
ty-First Century Fox Inc.’s cerns that the deal might is not purely fanciful,” that the Murdoch family too buy the 61 percent of Sky
bid for satellite broadcaster concentrate too much the merger would not be in much influence over Brit- it doesn’t already own. The
Sky to the country’s com- power in one company’s the public interest. ain’s media.“We urge the takeover values Sky, which
petition regulator for further hands. Murdoch already Twenty-First Century Fox secretary of state to take a broadcasts Premier League
examination, in a blow to owns British newspapers said it was disappointed in final decision quickly,” Fox soccer and top film and
Rupert Murdoch’s takeover including the Sun and The the decision, noting that said, adding that the deal, television offerings in Britain
plans. Times of London. U.K. broadcast regulator announced in December and other European mar-
Culture Secretary Karen And, in a change of view, Ofcom had advised the 2016, was now likely to be kets, at 18.5 billion pounds
Bradley told lawmakers she said she was also government that the deal completed by June 30, ($25 billion). q