A round-up of today's other stories in brief

Safety review of Maxipime by regulators

Maxipime, an antibiotic marketed in the US by Elan and elsewhere by Bristol-Myers Squibb, is being reviewed for safety by US regulators.

The Food and Drug Administration is examining safety data on Maxipime, also available in generic form as cefepime, after an article in the journal Lancet raised the possibility that the medicine increased the risk of death, the agency said yesterday.

Solicitor ordered to repay €2m

Solicitor Thomas Byrne was yesterday ordered by the Commercial Court to repay some €2 million to IIB Homeloans.

Mr Justice Peter Kelly granted summary judgment to IIB for €2,036,749 against Mr Byrne, whose practice, Thomas Byrne & Company, Walkinstown Road, Dublin, has been closed by the Law Society. Mr Byrne did not contest the application for judgment, which related to loans made to him from 2003.

Base salaries set to rise by 4.5%

Base salaries are set to increase by 4.5 per cent next year, according to a new report by employment consultants Mercer. The survey found that Irish pay rises are likely to remain at the high end of Europe-wide averages of 2.2 to 5 per cent in 2008. Mercer said actual salary increases in the Republic this year averaged at 4.5 per cent, marginally ahead of 2006.

Dip in number of unfilled vacancies

The proportion of firms with unfilled job vacancies declined slightly last month to 12 per cent, according to the latest employment and vacancies survey by Fás and ESRI.

In September, 14 per cent of private-sector companies had reported having job vacancies.

The slight improvement in the employment market was largely down to the services sector.

Sale of Qualceram Shires premises

Shareholders in struggling bathroom suite maker Qualceram Shires yesterday approved the €31 million sale of the group's Arklow headquarters, a move that will eradicate the company's debt and allow it to further cut costs, according to the company.

The deal will net proceeds of €21.8 million for the company.

Drug trademark case settled

A High Court action in which an international pharmaceutical company claimed its trademark for a drug to treat osteoporosis was infringed by an Irish company has been settled.

Merck & Co, of New Jersey, and its British arm, Merck Sharp and Dohme Ltd, had claimed Eurodrug Ltd of Seatown Business Park, Swords, Dublin, had infringed its registered trade marks for the tablet Fosamax, which the Irish company bought in the UK and imported. Eurodrug had denied the claims.

The case was due to resume yesterday before Mr Justice Peter Kelly but the judge was told the matter had been settled.

IFA economist to retire in May

Con Lucey, the chief economist with the Irish Farmers' Association, announced his retirement yesterday after 34 years with the organisation.

Mr Lucey, a native of Co Clare, joined the IFA's economics section in 1973 and was appointed chief economist to the organisation in March 1979, a position he has held since then. He will formally step down in May next year.

IFA general secretary Michael Berkery praised Mr Lucey's contribution.