GARDEN STATE BRIEFS
Tuesday, November 07, 2006 Just in time for the holidays, Lucent Technologies has gift-wrapped pink slips for 150 U.S. employees.
Notices went out yesterday and take effect within 30 days, said Lucent spokeswoman Joan Campion. About one-third of the job cuts are in New Jersey.
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Most of the cutbacks are in Lucent's Network Solutions Group, which sells gear for sending calls and data via wireline and wireless networks. The moves, which come on the heels of a positive Lucent earnings report, are unrelated to the company's pending acquisition by the French telecom company Alcatel, Campion said.
"The reason is just getting costs in line with the business," she said.
Lucent, of Murray Hill and Paris-based Alcatel continue to operate independently, Campion said. A U.S. government panel is reviewing the deal and final approval could come within days or weeks. The combined Alcatel Lucent plans about 9,000 job cuts.
--Kevin Coughlin
DRS gains Army order
DRS Technologies has won $76 million in orders to produce lightweight thermal weapon sights that can illuminate targets in fog, smoke, dust and sand storms.
The Parsippany defense contractor received the order from the U.S. Army's Communications-Electronics Command acquisition center in Fort Monmouth to make light, medium and heavy thermal weapon sights.
-- Joseph R. Perone
Erbitux study results
ImClone Systems and Bristol-Myers Squibb said two late-stage studies of Erbitux for metastatic colorectal cancer showed mixed results, succeeding in one, but failing in another.
The first Phase III clinical trial compared Erbitux combined with "best supportive care" versus "best supportive care" alone in 572 patients. The disease in those patients was resistant to all available chemotherapy. The Erbitux combination improved overall survival rate.
The second Phase III clinical trial, comparing Erbitux and chemotherapy agent irinotecan to chemotherapy alone, showed the combination failed to extend overall survival. The 1,300 patient study involved those whose disease wasn't responding to initial treatment with oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy.
-- Associated Press
Financial conference
CNBC television personality Jim Cramer, host of "Mad Money," will speak at 5th annual The Star-Ledger/Commerce Bank Road to Personal Wealth Financial Conference on Saturday.
Other speakers at the day-long event at Rutgers University in New Brunswick include CNBC Morning Call co-anchor Liz Claman and former Major League Baseball player-turned-investor Lenny Dykstra.
Doors open with registration taking place from 8 a.m. to 8:45 a.m., followed by the keynote speakers, individual breakout sessions with financial experts in which attendees can learn how to meet their individual investment goals. Tickets are available by calling (866) 546-1355 or online at www.nj.com/personalwealth.
-- Star-Ledger staff
And finally ...
Hooper Holmes, an insurance services company in Basking Ridge, said it eliminated the position of chief operating officer and informed its former COO John Spenser that his employment agreement will end on Nov. 2 next year. Until then, Spenser will remain as an executive vice president. ... Barr Pharmaceuticals said it began shipping a version of the Plan B emergency contraceptive that will be available without a prescription to consumers at least 18 years of age, while remaining prescription-only for younger women. The new version replaces the prescription-only version and will be available in U.S. pharmacies by mid-November, Barr said.
-- Staff and wire reports
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