Maker

Generic drugs have dramatically changed the pharmaceutical and health-care landscape in the last 25 years and now account for about 80 percent of prescriptions in the United States, with lower prices for consumers and insurers. But a U.S. Supreme Court case scheduled for argument March 25 pits drug companies, generic and branded, against government officials who argue that prices for consumers would be even lower if those companies did not strike deals to restrain trade. Drugstore chains and health insurers back the government's side.

Grégoire Poux-Guillaume is president of Alstom Grid, one of the world's leading providers of systems that manage complex electrical networks. He was on a flight to Philadelphia last Sunday when the Super Bowl was under way, so he has an alibi during the blackout. "We don't have any direct involvement in that," he said, laughing. The Super Bowl outage was caused by faulty switchgear in the electrical lines serving the Superdome, but it amounted to a free half-hour commercial on the important role played by the power grid.

Velcera Inc., a Yardley-based maker of over-the-counter animal health-care products, will be acquired by Perrigo Co. for $160 million in cash, or 40 cents per share. Velcera markets its products under the name FidoPharm, including its PetArmor flea and tick preventive products. Allegan, Mich.-based Perrigo said that Velcera had 2012 sales of about $60 million. Perrigo, one of the largest manufacturers of store brands of OTC pharmaceutical products and infant formulas, reported sales of $3.17 billion for its fiscal year ended June 30. Perrigo shares rose $5.49 or 5.5 percent to $106.

HARRISBURG - In a noisy warehouse a mile from the Capitol, workers push sheets of steel through giant machines that turn the slices of metal into polished wheelbarrows. A new one rolls off the assembly line every six seconds. The Ames True Temper plant proudly calls itself the wheelbarrow capital of the world, a distinction claimed since 1876, when the original company, Jackson Manufacturing, began industrialized production of the implements. So workers there were dismayed to learn last month that the maker of Monopoly planned to retire one of the game's familiar tokens and Las Vegas oddsmakers predicted the silvery little wheelbarrow would lose the popularity contest.

WHAT IS a compound bow? The item used to kill Kereti Paulsen in South Jersey is a sophisticated hunting weapon with a lever system of cables and pulleys. Invented in 1966 by Missouri hunter Holless Wilbur Allen, the bow is designed to give archers greater velocity over the more traditional recurve bow and longbow, making it ideal for deer-hunting. It is legal with a license in most states, including Pennsylvania and New Jersey, according to Wasp Archery, a Harrisburg arrow-maker.

Aircraft parts maker Triumph Group Inc., of Berwyn, said it agreed to acquire Goodrich Pump & Engine Control Systems from United Technologies Corp. for an undisclosed amount. Triumph said the acquisition will add about $195 million in annual revenue, and will operate as Triumph Engine Control Systems L.L.C. The business, which supplies aerospace fuel systems, is located in West Hartford, Conn. It employs 530. The deal is expected to close in the current quarter, Triumph said.

A Warrington, Bucks County, man was sentenced to 30 months in prison today for illegally possessing an explosive device in the form of a pipe bomb. John Grzyminski, 50, pleaded guilty in federal court in September to making bombs over a number of years. His arrest stemmed from his mother's call to police on May 9, 2012, saying felt threatened when she found a pipe bomb on a kitchen counter after an argument with her son. Nearby homes were evacuated when authorities moved in to search the home.

The maker of the embattled Nap Nanny baby recliner is fighting back. Lawyers for Leslie Gudel, founder of Berwyn-based Baby Matters L.L.C., went on the offensive Wednesday, seeking sanctions against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission less than a month after the independent regulatory agency took rare action to get the company's popular chairs pulled from the marketplace through a mandatory recall. The CPSC cited five infant deaths. Baby Matters is seeking dismissal of that recall effort, filed Dec. 5 as an administrative complaint that the commission brought within its own agency to be handled by an administrative law judge.

Lila Stephens was 11 months old when she suffered third-degree burns to her hands from touching the glass front of a fireplace at a resort in Wisconsin. To stave off regulation and lawsuits over severe burns to toddlers, manufacturers will provide protective screens as standard equipment with new gas fireplaces over the next two years. The industry has revised its voluntary guidelines to call for mesh screens to be attached to new fireplaces to prevent contact with the scorching glass fronts, which get hot enough to melt skin.

Citing the deaths of five infants, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has taken the unusual step of filing an administrative complaint against the Berwyn-based maker of the Nap Nanny baby recliner, alleging safety concerns with the popular chair and seeking a mandatory recall that provides consumers a refund. A spokesman for the independent regulatory agency would not comment directly when asked whether parents should stop using the Nap Nanny, but called the chair "a substantial hazard.