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The state attorney general is suing the makers of a narcotic used to treat pain and opiate addiction, three days after announcing that Hawaii doctors could continue prescribing the drug.
Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin and 35 other attorneys general filed an antitrust lawsuit against the makers of suboxone, a brand-name prescription drug used to treat heroin and other opioid addiction, alleging it sought to block generic competitors.
The complaint against Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals, known as Indivior, alleges the company conspired with MonoSol Rx to switch suboxone from a tablet to a film that dissolves in the mouth to prevent or delay generic versions by competitors, violating state and federal antitrust laws.
The lawsuit contends the companies’ “product hopping” — when a manufacturer changes a product to extend patent protections to prevent others from entering the market — is illegal and that the suboxone film provided “no real benefit” over the tablet version. During that time, annual sales of suboxone totaled more than $1 billion, according to Chin.
Ige to help judge software code contest
Gov. David Ige will be one of several judges recognizing 27 teams that participate today in the Hawaii Annual Code Challenge.
Beginning at 9:45 a.m., the finalists will present their work at the Aloha Tower Marketplace in Multipurpose Room 3.
The teams, consisting of hundreds of professional and amateur software code writers and other innovators, had over one month to develop solutions to modernize how the state does business and provides services to the public. After the presentation, the judges will decide which team earned the $10,000 prize pool.
In addition to the funding, one team will be selected to represent the state next month at GlobalHack in St. Louis.
Salesforce, Google may be courting Twitter
Shares of Twitter Inc. surged Friday after reports that the social media company could receive a formal bid soon.
Citing unnamed sources, CNBC reported that Twitter has received “expressions of interest” from several tech companies and was “engaged in conversations with potential suitors.” Those companies are said to include Google and cloud computing software firm Salesforce.com Inc., according to CNBC.
Breakfast Happy Meals enter trial phase
NEW YORK >> McDonald’s is considering another addition to its all-day breakfast menu: Happy Meals.
The fast-food chain says it will begin testing breakfast Happy Meals in Tulsa, Okla., on Monday. The Happy Meals come with either two McGriddles cakes or an egg and cheese McMuffin. McDonald’s says the latter option is the same size as a regular Egg McMuffin, except without the slice of Canadian bacon or butter.
McDonald’s Corp., based in Oak Brook, Ill., has been trying to win back customers since CEO Steve Easterbrook took over last year and said he wanted to transform it into a “modern, progressive” burger company. The company had conceded that it failed to keep up with changing tastes, with sales slumping in recent years.
One of the company’s biggest moves since Easterbrook took over was the rollout of an all-day breakfast menu in the U.S. last fall.
The company says the McGriddles cakes in the Happy Meals have 240 calories, and the egg and cheese McMuffin has 260 calories. The Happy Meals also come with side apples, yogurt or hash browns. In the afternoon and evenings, fries are also an option.
If the test is successful and goes national, it would be the first new entree for the Happy Meal in more than 30 years, said McDonald’s spokeswoman Becca Hary.
UPS tests use of package delivery drones
MARBLEHEAD, Mass. >> UPS has partnered with robot maker CyPhy Works to test the use of drones to make commercial deliveries to remote or difficult-to-access locations.
The companies began testing the drones on Thursday, when they launched one from the seaside town of Marblehead. The drone flew on a programmed route for 3 miles over the Atlantic Ocean to deliver an inhaler at Children’s Island.
The successful landing was greeted by jubilant shouts from CyPhy Works and UPS employees on the island to witness the test.
On the Move
Goodsill Anderson Quinn & Stifel has announced that Calvin E. Young has joined the firm as a partner. He has practiced law in Hawaii for 30 years and concentrates in the areas of professional malpractice, insurance bad faith, aviation and product liability.
Amy Miller Marvin has returned to the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum as chief operating officer. She is the first female COO in the museum’s history. Marvin started with the museum in 2004 as a program advancement officer, leaving in 2009 to serve as vice president for institutional advancement at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia.
The Queen’s Health Systems has appointed Mimi Harris as vice president/chief nursing officer. She has 40 years of experience working at Queen’s Health Systems.
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