MONEY BRIEFS.

COLUMN: MONEY BRIEFS

Drug firms collaborate

NEW YORK - Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Alder Biopharmaceuticals Inc. said yesterday they signed a collaboration deal potentially worth $1 billion, with a key focus on a rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Bristol-Myers will pay Alder $85 million up front for ALD518, which is now past midstage development for rheumatoid arthritis, an inflammatory condition that can cause joint damage. The agreement also includes the potential for development-based and regulatory-based milestone payments of up to $764 million and sales-based milestones that could be more than $200 million.

Bristol-Myers already sells the drug Orencia as a rheumatoid arthritis treatment. Sales rose 36 percent to $162 million during the third quarter. Bristol-Myers is building a plant at Devens to manufacture biologics such as Orencia.

UMMC contractor

WORCESTER - Skanska USA Building Inc. of Boston has been named construction manager for a project upgrading a power co-generation facility at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center.

Skanska reported in a news release that the project will add steam capacity to the existing power plant. Skanska will build a new control room and expand the power plant and administration buildings. The project is scheduled to start in March and wrap up by August 2011, Skanska said.

Hologic has profit

BEDFORD - Hologic Inc., which makes products to detect breast and cervical cancer, posted a profit for its fiscal fourth quarter in contrast to a loss a year ago, but its sales fell.

The company, which has a medical equipment division in Marlboro, said it continues to be hurt by reduced and delayed hospital spending on equipment amid the economic slump. Hologic also said President and Chief Operating Officer Robert Cascella was named CEO last week. He succeeds Jack Cumming, who will remain chairman and a member of the executive management team.

The company said after the markets closed Monday that it earned $34.9 million, or 13 cents per share, in the three months ended Sept. 26 compared with a loss of $144.4 million, or 56 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue fell 9 percent to $402.8 million from $442.5 million, due to fewer sales of Selenia digital mammogram systems.

Babcock award

WORCESTER - A contractor for Babcock Power Environmental Inc. has received the Excellence in Construction Award from the Association of Builders and Contractors, Babcock reported.

The award went to Abington Group Inc. of Portsmouth, N.H., for work on the JC McNeil Generating Station in Burlington, Vt. Abington installed a Babcock-designed piece of equipment, aimed at reducing emissions. Babcock is a subsidiary of Babcock Power Inc. of Danvers.

Cryogenic is certified

WORCESTER - The Cryogenic Institute of New England Inc. announced the approval of its International Traffic in Arms Regulations registration from the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Political-Military Affairs. ITAR is a collection of regulations to control the manufacture, export and transfer of defense articles, information and services, keeping defense technology and information within the hands of authorized U.S. persons only. The only exception to this is when the Department of State grants special approvals for foreign subjects. The

institute, on Ellsworth Street, works in the commercial application of cryogenic technologies to serve the needs of industry, government and scientists.

TD Bank may grow

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada's second-largest lender, may target takeovers in the U.S. with help from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Chief Financial Officer Colleen Johnston said. "We are actively looking at FDIC-assisted deals," Johnston told investors yesterday at a conference in New York. The Toronto-based bank bid on "at least one" FDIC- assisted transaction in the past. The FDIC, which insures bank deposits, helps find buyers for failing banks before they are closed by their primary regulators. About 120 U.S. banks have failed this year, including nine in Florida.

From local and wire service reports