A roundup of today's other business news in brief
Providence starts Celtic Sea drilling
Oil and gas exploration company Providence Resources has commenced appraisal drilling operations on its Dunmore oil discovery in the north Celtic Sea basin, off the coast of southern Ireland.
Tony O'Reilly, chief executive of Providence, said that the well is located up-dip from the original tested Jurassic discovery well and is "designed to prove additional volumes in the Dunmore accumulation".
Drilling operations commenced yesterday morning (September 5th), and it is anticipated that the drilling programme will take up to 40 days, which includes a provision for a comprehensive wireline logging and testing programme.
Elan to test MS drug Tysabri for use in cancer treatment
Irish drug firm Elan and its US partner Biogen announced yesterday that they have begun clinical trials to assess the potential of multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri in treating certain forms of cancer.
The Phase I and Phase II trials are specifically testing the safety and efficacy of Tysabri for patients with multiple myeloma, which does not respond to other treatments. Multiple myeloma is a cancer that affects plasma cells in bone marrow.
The first dose was administered in the trial on Thursday, according to a statement from the companies.
"We are excited to initiate the oncology clinical trial programme for Tysabri," said Dr Wayne Saville, director of oncology medical research at Biogen Idec. "Tysabri has potential in multiple myeloma and a number of other cancers through its action as a blocker of VLA4 [protein, which is present on the surface of multiple myeloma cells]."
Google Android fails to excite
When the first of Google's long-anticipated Android mobile phones hit the stores in a matter of weeks, they will land with a fizzle rather than a bang.
That is the overwhelming verdict of internet developers and mobile industry executives who have closely followed Google's progress and, in some cases, worked with early versions.
The first phones based on Android are to be launched next month by T-mobile, which is pushing on with plans to launch a number of handsets from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC next month, according to one person with knowledge of its plans.
- (Financial Times service)
Connacht Gold in 3m store move
Connacht Gold co-op is investing €3 million redeveloping its landmark store at Deepwater Quay in Sligo.
The 24,000 square foot store is scheduled to open in February 2009 and will create around 10 new jobs in the town.
The Sligo-based co-op carries out a wide range of activities including dairy processing, liquid milk distribution, feed milling, livestock marketing, wool trading and timber sawmilling, as well as running 29 retail stores in seven counties.
Computer games drive HMV sales
Sales of computer games titles such as Grand Theft Auto IVand technology products underpinned a robust performance at HMV, as the boom in home entertainment products showed little sign of stalling.
Ahead of the group's annual meeting yesterday, HMV said sales in Britain and Ireland in HMV-branded stores rose 4.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis for the 18 weeks to the end of August.
International like-for-likes rose 2.9 per cent, bringing total like-for-like sales for the brand to 4.1 per cent.
Games and technology products, sales of which rose in value by 50 per cent and 40 per cent respectively, accounted for all of the like-for-like sales rise. Music sales declined in line with expectations by about 9 per cent over the period.
The Waterstones book division reported disappointing figures.
- (Financial Times service)
Tax exemption
In yesterday's Business This Week, it was stated in the QA column that people receiving inheritances could benefit inter aliafrom an exemption on capital acquisitions tax for the first €3,000 of any bequest. The €3,000 exemption applies only to gifts made during one's life and not to inheritances.
