Companies

Plavix, the brand name for the blood-thinning drug taken by millions of people with heart disease to avoid heart attacks and strokes, will soon be on pharmacy shelves in generic form. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave approval to the generic versions this week. Plavix, whose generic name is clopidogrel, was made and marketed through a partnership of Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb. It had U.S. sales of about $6.7 billion for the 12 months ending March 31, 2012, according to IMS Health.

In an annual rite known as Upfront Week, NBC, Fox, ABC, CBS, and the CW just presented their lineups for the 2012-13 TV season to advertisers in New York. The ceremonies took place in some of the city's most august concert Halls (Carnegie, Avery Fisher, Radio City Music) over four days. The broadcast companies introduced only 20 new series for the fall (down from 27 last season). NBC led the pack with six new shows. Fox and the CW had half that many. Like it or not, an awful lot of familiar faces will be returning in the fall.

Amid the many messages you will hear about screening for prostate cancer in the coming days, I hope these stand out: There is at best a small potential benefit from prostate cancer screening, and there are substantial known harms. We need a better test, and we need better treatment options. The panel I chair, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, has just issued a recommendation against screening men of any age for prostate cancer using the prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, blood test.

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - Luxury appointments abound in the 7,000-square-foot, 12-year-old Victorian-style mansion overlooking Great Bay, such as a marble fireplace that once graced a Biddle estate mansion, a crystal chandelier that at the touch of a button lowers from the 30-foot foyer ceiling for cleaning, and boat slips big enough to berth a pair of yachts. A "smart house" system controls window treatments, lighting, heating, air-conditioning, and music. Slate-covered turrets, little secret gardens, and gingerbread-laden porches make the exterior look more like Cape May than Ocean City.

Radnor energy company Penn Virginia Resource Partners L.P. on Monday announced $380 million in new pipelines serving Marcellus Shale natural gas drillers, continuing its expansion in Pennsylvania's booming shale-gas region. PVR, which has rapidly transformed itself from a coal company to a natural-gas pipeline company, said it has entered into long-term agreements to extend its Lycoming County system to collect and process gas from the wells of four gas drillers, including some of the biggest producers in northern Pennsylvania.

SIGN UP for naked yoga and you won't need trendy labels such as Lululemon or Athleta. All you'll need is a yoga mat, maybe a towel and a willingness to get naked. Bridge pose? In this class, no tight clothing will be in your way. You may, though, feel self-conscious about having your bare crotch on full display. That's enough to make anyone go "ommmm. " Classes are usually segregated by sex, such as the monthly, all-male Naked Yoga Philly that takes place Tuesday night in Center City.

Consumers are demanding better service in unprecedented ways. In the last several months, public outrage has helped beat back efforts by Bank of America Corp., Netflix Inc., and Verizon Communications Inc. to raise fees or significantly alter services. The victories come at a time when money is tight all around and consumers are tapping into social media to air their frustrations with like-minded individuals. "In the past, people would be angry, but they'd be all over the country talking to their neighbors," said Kit Yarrow, a professor of consumer psychology at Golden Gate University.

Two Philadelphia-based companies featuring escort services have agreed to plead guilty to money laundering charges with fines and forfeitures totaling $6.4 million, the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced today. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney there said no date had been set yet for the plea hearing. The companies are controlled by Philadelphia businessman Richard Cohen, the so-called "King of Porn. " He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.

Imagine that José Garces and Stephen Starr joined forces. Now imagine that instead of building a new facility lined with exotic decor and a model-pretty staff, these celebrity chefs used the partnership to develop their own culinary aesthetic, and put the pursuit of cuisine ahead of a restaurant's sustainability. A merger of similar stature and quality took place in the Philadelphia dance community recently, when dancer-choreographer Kate Watson-Wallace and choreographer-poet-impresario Jaamil Kosoko rechristened anonymous bodies, Watson-Wallace's company, as a joint collaborative for the pair's work.

Inspired by little Alexandra Scott, who started selling lemonade in front of her home in 2000 at age 4 to raise money to fight childhood cancer, the foundation that was established to continue her work has been following in her footsteps to find the resources to battle the disease that killed her at age 8. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation of Wynnewood has conducted numerous fundraising projects over the years. The foundation has encouraged organizations, companies and individuals around the country to set up their own lemonade stands, or to organize other fundraising projects to help finance research into this most heartbreaking of illnesses that robs children of their futures.

File this under "They do things differently in China. " For those curious about the Chinese "rent-a-white-guy" phenomenon, in which a Chinese company will employ a foreigner part-time to sit near the front of an office or to attend meetings because it apparently adds a level of sophistication, here's how they get hired. I received the following letter recently from a contact in Beijing who agreed to its being posted. The letter is not edited in any way except to delete some identifying information.

The segment of the U.S. population age 85 and above is expected to grow nearly five times faster than the overall population over the next 30 years. The surge could create huge demand for senior-living residences that occupy the middle ground between independent living, in which seniors largely care for themselves, and the more intensive care of nursing homes. Three Radnor businessmen are banking on that with Shelbourne Healthcare Development Group L.L.C., which with a Georgia partner has six assisted-living facilities under construction, including one in North Wales.

SEER Interactive is the lone Philadelphia company to make the 2012 Inner City 100 list of the fastest-growing companies in — where else? — the inner city. For the last 14 years, the nonprofit Initiative for a Competitive Inner City has highlighted the entrepreneurial activity that goes on in U.S. cities. And for about just as long, I've wondered why more Philadelphia firms don't pop up on it. See if you detect a trend: Last year, there were just two Philadelphia-area companies on the list, three in 2010, and four in 2009.

Inspired by little Alexandra Scott, who started selling lemonade in front of her home in 2000 at age 4 to raise money to fight childhood cancer, the foundation that was established to continue her work has been following in her footsteps to find the resources to battle the disease that killed her at age 8. Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation of Wynnewood has conducted numerous fundraising projects over the years. The foundation has encouraged organizations, companies and individuals around the country to set up their own lemonade stands, or to organize other fundraising projects to help finance research into this most heartbreaking of illnesses that robs children of their futures.

Robin Hood stands at the edge of Sherwood Forest, strumming what looks like a lute gone angular, and lamenting "Marian, I love you, girl!" For a second, he's a lounge lizard in the present while his 12th-century honey languishes in a tower run by the Sheriff of Nottingham, who has a modern flair for corruption and an old-fashioned snarl. That mix of eras is a creamy-smooth blend in the Arden Theatre Company's production of Robin Hood , which runs through June 24 and continues the company's current rollout of high-level theater aimed at kids.

Win a student competition, and you're likely to get a bit of money and a lot of accolades. Often, the most over-the-top and impractical idea scores first place. But in the last few years, corporate sponsors are taking a new tack: Welcome to Student Design Competition 2.0, where producing work that others want matters. That means instead of working in isolation and presenting a surprise design to a roomful of skeptical judges, teams are schooled in production, sourcing, and salability.

"My first reaction was, ‘Wow, they're thinking outside the box.'?" — C. Alan Walker, an aide to Gov. Corbett, on Delta Air Lines' purchase of the ConocoPhillips refinery in Trainer, where the carrier intends to make its own jet fuel. "Acquiring the Trainer refinery is an innovative approach to managing our largest expense. " — Delta chief executive Richard Anderson, on the $150 million purchase. "They're really going to have to prove that they can start to monetize these 900 million users, not just in a desktop environment, but more importantly in a mobile environment, which is even more questionable.

To local sports enthusiasts, Leslie Gudel is likely best known for her Phillies reporting and anchoring on Comcast SportsNet. To another category of fan, Gudel might not be known at all. But her portable baby recliners sure are. Since they hit the market in early 2009, Nap Nanny and its current derivation, Nap Nanny Chill, have delivered countless parents from the spirit-crushing torture of life with an infant who would rather cry than...

HIS OWN lawyer was worried that Michael Lane - a saucy, outspoken South Philly man - would curse on the stand. It's not as if Lane didn't have cause. To begin with, Lane, owner of the local restaurant chain Steak' Em Up, never thought the lawsuit against him would make it to federal court. In fact, he thought it was a gag when he received a cease-and-desist letter from the owners of Steak-umm, a brand of thinly sliced frozen steak based outside Reading. The letter threatened Lane with a trademark-infringement suit if he didn't change the name of his chain within 24 hours.

John Fortin, 89, who bought a small chemical manufacturer in North Philadelphia and turned it into a major chemical supply-chain management company, died Friday, April 20, of complications from a stroke at his home in Hershey's Mill in West Chester. "He lived a full life. He didn't get cheated," said his son, Thaddeus J. Fortin, chief executive officer of Haas Group International. In 1975, Mr. Fortin, then a salesman with Quaker Chemical in Conshohocken, bought Charles J. Haas in North Philadelphia, which had about $150,000 in revenue and three employees.