NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are mixed on Wall Street today. At 10:55 a.m. Eastern Time, the S&P 500 was up 2.28 points to 1,880. The Dow Jones Industrial average was down 14 points to 16,478. And the NASDAQ was up 23 points at 4,114.
WASHINGTON (AP) — A U.S. grand jury has charged five Chinese hackers with economic espionage and trade secret theft. The indictment accuses the hackers of targeting the U.S. nuclear power, metals and solar products industries. The alleged victims are brand-name companies including Alcoa and Westinghouse. Attorney General Eric Holder says the U.S. will not tolerate foreign government efforts to sabotage American companies.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The No. 2 drug company Pfizer has said it won’t raise again its offer to buy AstraZeneca or launch a hostile takeover bid. AstraZeneca’s board rejected Pfizer’s possible final offer of $119 million, and the company’s chairman says the latest offer was only a “minor improvement” over the previous one. But under U.K. rules, Pfizer does have until 5 p.m. local time May 26 to make a formal bid. AstraZeneca’s share price has slumped to 14.7 percent today.
UNDATED (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration is calling a potential blood cancer treatment from U.S. drug companies AbbVie and Bristol-Myers Squibb a “breakthrough therapy.” The companies say the drug (elotuzumab) received the designation for use in combination with another treatment (lenalidomide) and the steroid dexamethasone (dex-uh-MEH’-thuh-zohn) for treating multiple myeloma patients who have already tried other therapies.
BEIJING (AP) — Chinese state media say a Chinese drug company chief executive who was under investigation for suspicion of taking bribes has jumped to his death. The reports say Liu Zhanbin of Sanjing Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd. jumped Sunday from a third-floor bathroom window where he was receiving medical treatment under the supervision of court guards. The Chinese government has launched a sweeping investigation of drug companies as part of efforts to improve health care and rein in drug prices.
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