Business news in brief

In the Region

Capsule inhaler tested by Glaxo

GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. is testing a capsule-based inhaler, suggesting the United Kingdom's biggest drugmaker is exploring a cheaper version of its best-selling asthma therapy for emerging markets or to compete with generic versions. Glaxo, which has about 5,000 employees in the Philadelphia area, completed a 60-patient, midstage trial in June comparing its Advair Diskus dry-powder inhaler with the capsule-based version of the drug-device combination, according to a posting on the clinicaltrials.gov website. The patent for Advair will expire in Europe next year. - Bloomberg News

Sheridan to take helm at AmeriGas

Jerry E. Sheridan, 46, the vice president and chief operating officer of AmeriGas Partners L.P. of Valley Forge, will succeed Eugene V.N. Bissell as president and chief executive officer March 2, the company announced Wednesday. Bissell, 58, has been employed by AmeriGas or its parent company, UGI Corp., since 1981. His retirement plans had been previously announced. R. Paul Grady will succeed Sheridan as vice president and chief operating officer. AmeriGas is the nation's largest retail propane marketer, serving more than two million customers. UGI is the general partner and owns 29 percent of the AmeriGas partnership units.

- Andrew Maykuth

Fewer foreclosures in 2011

CoreLogic, the real estate information provider, said Wednesday that completed foreclosures for all of 2011 totaled 830,000, compared with 1.1 million in 2010. December foreclosures fell 2,000, from 57,000 in November to 55,000. The December rate was 12,000 lower than the 67,000 foreclosures completed in the same month of 2010. From the start of the financial crisis in September 2008, there have been about 3.2 million completed foreclosures, CoreLogic said.

- Alan J. Heavens

Drilling violations cited