Products

Rockville-based Celera Genomics Group completed its acquisition yesterday of Paracel Inc., a company that produces hardware and software used to search and manipulate vast databases of genetic information such as the ones Celera is developing. "Think of Paracel as the product arm of Celera," said Dr. Kwang-I Yu, chief executive officer of Paracel, back in his office minutes after shareholders approved the transaction in a meeting at the company's Pasadena, Calif., headquarters. He is a Celera senior vice president and general manager of the Paracel product line.

McCormick & Co. enjoyed a double-digit increase in profit during the last quarter on the strength of new products, higher sales and price increases, the Sparks-based spicemaker reported Thursday. Net income for the March-to-May period rose 11 percent to $73.6 million, or 55 cents per share, from $66.2 million, or 49 cents per share, in the corresponding period last year. Sales in McCormick's consumer and industrial businesses increased nearly 11 percent to $883.7 million, up from $798.3 million.

Sony has given us a new version of the Walkman every three weeks since the product was launched in 1979. If this week is average, we'll harvest 250 or so new products aimed for American grocery and drugstore shelves.Speed, as I've said many times in this space, is critical to success. Old-fashioned hierarchies are not only unmercifully sluggish, but their committee-born products are also usually dull as doornails when they finally arrive.But there's more to life than speed. To wit, the case of Steve Chen.

Amid the cornfields and strip malls of Maryland's Eastern Shore, an unconventional billboard will soon shimmer wordlessly in the sun. To many onlookers it may seem a gleaming enigma. But for the executives of one European company, it will be a clear sign of their firm's growing presence in the United States. It will also bring a touch of architectural sophistication to a part of Maryland that former Gov. William Donald Schaefer once famously likened to an outhouse. The message-less signboard will be part of the U.S. headquarters of GKD, a German manufacturer of woven metal screens and other architectural products.

WASHINGTON -- Senior members of Congress from both parties are working feverishly on legislation that could give consumers access to lower-cost copies of biotechnology drugs that now cost tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Prospects for the legislation have increased since Democrats took control of Congress this year. Consumer groups, employers and insurers are lobbying for the bill, which they see as a way to hold down health costs. The proposal faces formidable scientific and political obstacles.

MONDAY'S federal indictment of W.R. Grace & Co. is unprecedented and potentially devastating to the Columbia-based company, but the government could have a hard time putting Grace officials behind bars. This is the first attempt in the United States to hold a manufacturer of asbestos-containing products criminally liable for health and environmental harm, experts say. More than three decades of asbestos-linked deaths, litigation and bankruptcies are behind us, but until now nobody at an asbestos purveyor has been threatened with prison.

Baltimore-based Pompeian Inc. has become the first olive oil maker to have the quality of its products backed by the United States Department of Agriculture, the company announced. The manufacturer has obtained approval for its extra virgin and extra virgin organic olive oils through the USDA's Quality Monitoring Program, which tests products to verify purity and quality. To enter the USDA program, Pompeian agreed to unannounced visits and testing of product samples. The product verification will allow the privately owned company to start placing a USDA logo on its products this month and will give consumers additional assurances, said David Bensadoun, chief executive officer of Pompeian.

WASHINGTON - Did you hear about the sweat shirt that can catch fire? Or the cedar chest that can turn into a coffin? Probably not. Although makers of both products ordered recalls, the word rarely gets very far. That is the flaw in one of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's main strategies for policing the marketplace. In some cases, such as that of the cedar chest, the products are killing people years after manufacturer recalls. "The recall process is ridiculous," said Marla Felcher, author of It's No Accident, a critique of safety measures for children's products.

For most people, candy and desserts are sweet indulgences to be enjoyed anytime. But for those with diabetes, the sugary temptations can make them sick, very sick.This can be especially difficult for the parents of children with diabetes. They constantly have to monitor what their child is eating, especially during the holidays, when treats seem to be everywhere."It takes over your life," says Joyce Mason of Glen Arm, whose 9-year-old son, Tyler, was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes when he was 2. "You don't have a child with diabetes.

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Intel Corp. and Compaq Computer Corp. said yesterday they're forming an alliance to develop products aimed at reducing bottlenecks in computer networks.The first products from the alliance could be available later this year.The venture between Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, and Compaq, the world's largest maker of personal computers, is aimed at spurring PC sales by speeding the flow of information over networks, analysts said."This is an extension of Intel's desire to seed the market for high-speed networking," said Farrokh Billimoria, analyst at Hambrecht & Quist.