Company news

Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller joined with 15 Indiana school districts in a lawsuit challenging the authority of the Obama administration to grant tax subsidies to Hoosiers buying health insurance in newly established exchanges or to fine employers for failing to provide affordable coverage. But a Democratic lawmaker said the lawsuit could lead to 400,000 Hoosiers losing out on tax breaks meant to make the insurance more affordable. According to TheStatehouseFile.com, Rep. Ed Delaney of Indianapolis said the lawsuit, filed Tuesday, is “dashing the hopes of Hoosiers on purpose.” The suit accuses the Internal Revenue Service of going beyond the Affordable Care Act’s authorizations by extending the tax breaks – which are meant to be subsidies – to residents of all states. The suit said the law authorizes the tax credits only for people living in states that are operating state-based exchanges. Indiana and most other states opted not to create their own exchanges and let the federal government do the job instead. But as revised by the IRS, the health care program opens the subsidies to residents of all states – including Indiana. Those IRS rules make Indiana employers liable for penalties if they fail to provide affordable health coverage to their employees, and one of them receives a tax subsidy to buy coverage on the health insurance exchange. Delaney, who blamed the lawsuit on Gov. Mike Pence, said that for the state’s argument to have merit, it would mean stripping the tax breaks away from all Hoosiers.

Indianapolis-based Novia CareClinics LLC, which was a pioneer in operating primary care clinics for employers, has agreed to be purchased by Wisconsin-based QuadMed LLC, another on-site clinic operator, the companies announced Wednesday. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. It is expected to close in the next 30 days. Novia has opened 50 on-site clinics serving more than 90 employers since its founding in 2006. In 2012, the company had more than $15 million in revenue. It now boasts 600 employees. QuadMed, which is a subsidiary of publicly traded Quad/Graphics, a commercial printing firm, operates more than 40 on-site clinics in various states. Its clinics were started to take care of its own 20,000 employees. As part of the transaction, Novia CEO Eric Olson will become an executive at QuadMed, serving under its president, Tim Dickman. In a press release, QuadMed said it also intends to fold Novia’s other employees into its operations.

Indianapolis-based Dow AgroSciences LLC said Tuesday that it has prevailed in a second patent-infringement lawsuit involving one of the company’s key products. The suit, filed in January 2012 by South African-based Bayer CropScience SA, charged that Dow Agro’s Enlist E3 soybean seed infringed one of its patents. In Monday’s ruling, a federal judge sided with Dow Agro in its motion to have the case dismissed after the court said it was unable to find objective evidence supporting Bayer's arguments. Dow Agro won a similar case against Bayer last September involving Enlist’s 2,4-D tolerance technology. That decision was upheld five weeks ago by an appeals court. Dow Agro, a subsidiary of Midland, Mich.-based Dow Chemical Co., predicts Enlist could earn as much as $1 billion over its life cycle. Dow Agro had global sales of $6.4 billion in 2012.

Indianapolis-based drugmaker Eli Lilly and Co. has become too reliant on its remaining pipeline of drugs under development for growth as it deals with patent expirations, Jefferies analyst Jeffrey Holford said in a new research report. "We are also skeptical of many of the remaining pipeline assets," wrote Holford, according to a report by the Associated Press. Holford lowered his rating on the stock to "underperform" from "hold" and dropped his price target on the shares to $40 from $49. Also factoring into Holford’s action are increasing competition and slower sales volume from the U.S. diabetes market, which is a big source of revenue for Lilly, and unfavorable foreign exchange rates and pricing pressure in Europe. At the end of this year, Lilly will lose the U.S. patent protecting its top-selling drug, the antidepressant Cymbalta, which will allow cheaper generic versions to steal its sales. Lilly also lost its U.S. and European patents on its former best-seller, the antipsychotic Zyprexa, in late 2011.