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What businesses should do after massive data breach
Welcome to The National Observer, a roundup of top business news and actionable insights from across The Business Journals network of publications. We're looking at what shifting desires for remote work mean for retention, what's happening with home improvement demand, and a $4.9 billion deal by a semiconductor giant. First, however, we're digging into why the recent National Public Data breach matters and what to do about it.<\p> Get more stories like these every day in your inbox by subscribing to The National Observer newsletter.<\p>
Prince Lobel adds seven lawyers from another large local firm
A top 25 law firm in Massachusetts has made a significant addition to its newly established Worcester office, tapping talent from another prominent firm in the area. <\p> Prince Lobel Tye LLP has added eight attorneys to its Worcester practice — seven of them from Bowditch & Dewey. <\p>
Exclusive: Mass. universities offer more prison-ed classes
Everything changed for Christopher Gannon when he worked his way into his dream school, Boston College from behind the walls of a prison.<\p> “When I got that acceptance letter, I didn’t realize how much my life had changed, but I knew the opportunity was there,” said Gannon.<\p>
Biogen Alzheimer's drug wins UK approval
After failing to get a nod of approval from the European Union's drug regulator last month, the Alzheimer's disease drug made by Biogen Inc. and Eisai Co. Ltd. has notched a victory across the pond. <\p> Leqembi was authorized by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in Great Britain, according to Biogen (Nasdaq: BIIB). <\p>
IP lawyer numbers slide; AI partly to blame
Intellectual property law has long been one of the top practice areas in Massachusetts, in large part because of the region's research universities and its strong tech and biotech sectors. But over the past few years, the largest IP law firms in Massachusetts have seen a drop in headcount for IP lawyers. <\p> From 2023 to 2024, the number of total IP lawyers at the largest firms in Massachusetts (rankings listed at bottom of this story) decreased by 3.6%, according to Business Journal research. The number of patent lawyers dropped as well — by 1.3% — over the same time frame.<\p>
Commentary: Veterans deserve quality healthcare
Health care news recently has seemed like an avalanche of bad news: spiraling medical costs, closing hospitals, insurance nightmares that only exacerbate the trauma of patients dealing with persistent and dangerous threats to their own well-being. At the Harvard Street Neighborhood Health Center, though, we’ve got a good and uplifting story to tell, one that has not only led and will continue to result in improved health outcomes but has also fostered a community to whom we all owe a debt of gratitude. <\p> The Veteran Outreach Center, located on Blue Hill Avenue on the Roxbury-Dorchester line and serving all of Boston’s neighborhoods and beyond, has within the past year become a revitalized resource for one of Boston’s most deserving and underserved populations. <\p>
Steward delays again hearing on Mass. hospital sales
The hearing on the sale of some of Steward Health Care’s Massachusetts hospitals has been delayed yet again.<\p> A Texas bankruptcy judge had been set to consider the proposed sales in a hearing Thursday afternoon, but in a filing Wednesday, Steward said that hearing is now scheduled to take place on Tues., Aug. 27. The bankrupt hospital chain has now delayed the hearing six times.<\p>
The Petri Dish: Abata lands big pharma funds; Broad’s new partner
Before you check out some of the biggest Boston biotech news this week, including a lawsuit against Biogen Inc. accusing the company of “kickbacks” and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. expanding its Fan Pier HQ lease, take a moment to check in with some of the region’s startups and institutes. <\p> This week, Bristol Myers Squibb is investing in a Watertown biotech, Fulcrum is expanding its team and the Broad Institute has a new partner and whole genome cancer project. Keep reading for the latest on the state’s life sciences, biotech and medical device industries.<\p>
BU rebrands innovation lab, names Ignition awardees
Boston University just turned a new leaf and rebranded its Innovation Lab, formerly the BUild lab, to the IDG Capital Student Innovation Center. The name may have changed, but the innovation at BU hasn’t, and the Ignition Awards are as much proof of that as anything. <\p> The awards started in 2007 to get more of BU’s researchers to think like entrepreneurs. In the 17 years since their start, the Ignition Awards have gone on to fund companies like Sol Clarity, a water-free system for cleaning solar panels, and Atorvia, a company developing a therapy to reverse organ failure. <\p>
Five things you need to know, and the case for lobster
Good morning, Boston. Pumpkin Spice is back, and you know how I feel about that because I've ranted about it here and here and here and here and here. I'll spare you my rant today, however, because it's Thursday and you've got five things you need to know to start your busy day.<\p> Greg Ryan reports that Gillette parent P&G has revealed plans to make at least 30% of new development on its South Boston "World Shaving Headquarters" site into housing.<\p>
Enough is enough: Cannabis commission chaos must end
There’s plenty of blame to go around for the lack of both leadership and transparency at the state agency that oversees the billion-dollars-a-year cannabis industry.<\p> The Cannabis Control Commission had already gone without a chairperson and a permanent executive director for months when the news came out in the past couple of weeks that its acting chairperson would now be out for at least a month, leaving the five-member commission with just three active members. <\p>
Florida breakfast chain's first Boston-area location, more retail news
The national breakfast chain First Watch is building out its first Boston-area location amid an aggressive expansion push.<\p> The new location will be in Hanover Crossing, the development on the South Shore where the Hanover Mall once stood. First Watch will join L.L. Bean, Macy’s, Trader Joe’s and a number of other retailers there, with a planned opening before the end of the year.<\p>
New Zealand edtech firm to open Boston outpost
Edtech business Kami took its name from the very thing it sets out to destroy — at least in a classroom setting: paper. <\p> Earlier this week, the 11-year-old company said it had received a majority investment from BV Investment Partners, a Boston private equity firm that closed its 11th fund last year. For Kami, the plan is to open an office in Boston, the firm's second physical outpost besides its Auckland headquarters in its native New Zealand. <\p>
Cannabis equity fund gets major monetary infusion
A state fund meant to open the legal marijuana industry up to more entrepreneurs from communities most harmed by prohibition and enforcement now has more than $27 million at its disposal and plans are underway to broaden eligibility for state financial assistance, the Executive Office of Economic Development said in its annual report on the Cannabis Social Equity Trust Fund.<\p> The Legislature and Gov. Charlie Baker created the fund in 2022 and called for it to be seeded it with 15% of the money in the Marijuana Regulation Fund, which itself is funded by revenue from the marijuana excise tax, application and licensing fees, and industry penalties. But a technical issue prevented the inflow of money to the new trust fund until lawmakers made a change in the fiscal 2023 closeout budget that Gov. Maura Healey signed last December.<\p>
Major Boston law firm hires former Google exec as COO
Goodwin Procter has named a former longtime Google executive as its new chief operating officer. <\p> Mary O’Carroll will oversee the global operations of the Boston-founded firm, which has 474 lawyers in Massachusetts and 1,966 lawyers firmwide, according to the most recent data gathered by the Business Journals.<\p>
TJ Maxx, Marshalls parent invests $360M in Dubai retailer
TJX Cos. has made a roughly $360 million investment in a Middle East discount chain.<\p> The Framingham-based company (NYSE: TJX) now has a 35% stake in privately held Brands for Less, which began in Lebanon in 1996. The retailer has locations across the Middle East, with 100 stores primarily in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.<\p>
Gillette unveils housing plan for Southie World Shaving HQ site
Gillette parent The Procter & Gamble Co. has taken the next step toward redeveloping its 31-acre World Shaving Headquarters in South Boston, revealing plans to make at least 30% of the site's new development into housing.<\p> The company (NYSE: PG) filed a letter of intent with Boston’s planning department on Wednesday that includes a broad overview of its plans for the campus. It announced last year that it would move its century-old Southie manufacturing operations to Andover.<\p>
MGB says its home-hospital program is now largest in U.S.
Mass General Brigham’s Home Hospital program has doubled its capacity in a single year, making it the largest hospital-at-home program in the country, the health system said. <\p> The healthcare system today said its effort to alleviate the shortage of in-hospital capacity is now up to 70 home-hospital "beds." Adding more capacity to treat patients in their homes saves beds in the physical hospitals, officials said.<\p>
Mass General Brigham, MIT team up to prevent opioid overdoses
In an attempt to prevent deaths from opioid overdoses, researchers from Mass General Brigham and MIT are developing an implantable device that detects and reverses an overdose as it's happening. <\p> The implant, called iSOS, uses sensors that continuously monitor a user’s respiratory rate, heart rate, body temperature and blood oxygen saturation. Once an overdose is detected, the iSOS releases a dose of naloxone, a drug known to reverse the effects of an overdose, directly into the user's tissue. <\p>
Why the nation's child-care crisis largely comes down to real estate
More than half of Americans live in a child-care desert.<\p> That sobering statistic from public policy research and advocacy organization Center for American Progress underscores how tough it's become to access child care across America. <\p>
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