TWTR Twitter Inc

TWITTER

Ex-Facebook Tech Chief Goes to Board

Twitter Inc. has named former Facebook Inc. technology chief Bret Taylor to its board, adding a director with social-media experience.

Mr. Taylor is the latest in a series of new appointments joining the social media company's board as it struggles to reignite growth under co-founder and Chief Executive Jack Dorsey.

Mr. Taylor brings with him a unique skill set yet to be found on Twitter's board: experience at another social media company. The 35-year-old co-founded FriendFeed, which was sold to Facebook in 2009.

After leaving Facebook, Mr. Taylor co-founded Quip Inc., the collaborative productivity software company where he is now CEO.

Together, his experience in social technologies could help Twitter tackle big projects such as its effort to draw more value from the 500 million people who visit but don't log into Twitter. About 310 million users log into Twitter at least once a month compared with the 1.6 billion who do so on Facebook.

--Yoree Koh

BRISTOL-MYERS

Drugmaker Buys Swedish Company

Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. said Tuesday that it had acquired Sweden-based Cormorant Pharmaceuticals for up to $520 million, the drugmaker's latest deal involving products that harness the immune system to attack cancerous tumors.

Under the deal, Bristol-Myers will pay $95 million in upfront and near-term payments to the closely held company, plus as much as $425 million in possible additional milestone payments.

Cormorant develops therapies for cancer and rare diseases. With the acquisition, Bristol-Myers said it would gain the rights to Cormorant's immunotherapy treatment, HuMax-IL8.

The treatment targets a protein in many solid tumors that suppresses the immune system and helps tumors grow. Cormorant acquired the rights to HuMax-IL8 from Genmab A/S in 2012 under an exclusive license deal.

--Brittney Laryea

ASIANA

Second Low-Cost Airline Set for Launch

South Korea's Asiana Airlines Inc. obtained government approval to launch its second low-cost airline.

The company, which owns a 46% stake in low-cost carrier Air Busan, received approval to launch Air Seoul from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transportation, the ministry said Tuesday.

The new airline will be based at Incheon International Airport, near the capital, Seoul. A spokeswoman for Air Seoul said it would first operate on domestic routes, beginning Monday, and will branch out to international routes in October, serving China, Japan and Malaysia.

Asiana is the latest major carrier to set up a low-cost subsidiary to better compete against an influx of budget airlines in international markets. Low-cost travel accounts for more than a quarter of the region's traffic., and Asiana Chief Executive Kim Soo-cheon has said that "a growing challenge from low-cost carriers is a stark reality facing almost all full-service airlines around the world."

--In-Soo Nam

MCDONALD'S

Chain Wins EU 'Mac' Trademark Case

McDonald's Corp. won a legal case in the European Union's second highest court, allowing the U.S. fast-food chain to prevent the registration of trademarks for food and beverages with the prefix "Mac" or "Mc."

McDonald's had won a case in 2013 the European Union Intellectual Property Office challenging Singapore-based company Future Enterprises' registry of the name MACCOFFEE for its food and beverage products. The EU's General Court on Tuesday upheld that ruling for similar reasons the Intellectual Property Office had given.

The General Court said the trademark MACCOFEE and McDonald's are phonetically similar and that the combination of "mac" with the name of a drink can lead the public to link that trademark to McDonald's.

--Laurence Norman

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 06, 2016 02:48 ET (06:48 GMT)

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