Science in the Triangle

GlaxoSmithKline gets hit with a $2.5 million jury verdict, Talecris borrows $550 million two weeks after going public and Affiliated Computer Services plans to hire 150 at its call center in Raleigh.

Jury finds GSK negligent

A Philadelphia jury found that GlaxoSmithKline failed to properly warn doctors of birth defect risks the antidepressant Paxil posed when prescribed to pregnant women.

Lyam Kilker was born four years ago with heart defects his mother blamed on Paxil. The lawsuit was the first of about 600 to come to trial. The jury awarded the Kilker family $2.5 million in damages.

The Food and Drug Administration issued warnings in 2005 that Paxil may be associated with birth defects. But GSK argued that in Lyam Kilker’s case it wasn’t clear Paxil caused the heart defects.

GSK said it would appeal the verdict.

In other company news:

• GSK will invest $17 million in a new, $60 million science park that is about to be established near London. The British drugmaker, which has its U.S. headquarters in Research Triangle Park, and two other financial backers hope to attract enough young biotech companies to rival the biotech hub in Boston.
• Sales of Trimeris’ AIDS drug Fuzeon drop 35 percent in the third quarter.
• Two Leerink Swann analysts have Durham’s Inspire Pharmaceuticals on a watch list of five companies whose stock might increase rapidly in value. The analysts are betting that next year Inspire’s dry eye drug Prolacria will finally receive regulatory approval and come to market and that a partner will emerge for Inspire’s cystic fibrosis drug denufosol.
• Talecris Biotherapeutics announced the sale of $550 million in notes two weeks after its initial public offering raised about $900 million. The RTP-based maker of blood-based drugs wants to refinance some of its debt and add to the pool of money available for acquisitions.
• Affiliated Computer Services increased the number of hires at its call center in Raleigh by 150. The Dallas company, which already employs about 2,600 in North Carolina, announced in August an addition of 465 jobs at its Raleigh center.