Executive Center's top 10 floors up for sale

Apartments on the top 10 floors of downtown's Executive Center are being placed for sale -- minus the penthouse.

The 118 studio and one-bedroom units on floors 31 to 40 range in size from 450 to 798 square feet, and are zoned for office or residential use. Prices start at $94,500 leasehold, through ERA Concepts Unlimited Realtors, the exclusive sales agents. The apartments on those floors were previously used as hotel rooms. Aston Hotels & Resorts is continuing its hotel program at the center, and says it will work with new owners who would like management for their units.

Health plan provider Kaiser names new chief executive

OAKLAND, Calif. >> Kaiser Permanente yesterday announced that George C. Halvorson will take over as chief executive officer of the nation's largest health maintenance organization.

Effective May 1, Halvorson will replace David Lawrence, a doctor who plans to retire at the end of the year after serving as chairman emeritus of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals. Kaiser began its search for Lawrence's replacement last summer.

Halvorson, 55, is leaving Minneapolis-based HealthPartners, a health plan provider with 700,000 members and about $2 billion in annual revenue.

Oakland-based Kaiser has 8.3 million members in nine states, including Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.

Sepracor keeps falling after FDA rejects drug

Marlborough, Mass. >> Sepracor Inc. shares, which plunged 58 percent yesterday after the Food and Drug Administration rejected its Soltara allergy drug, fell another 13 cents today to $19.51.

The FDA turned down the drug because of concerns the medication may cause heart damage or irregular heartbeat.

Sepracor had been counting on Soltara to provide "a significant part" of its revenue this year, Chief Executive Officer Timothy J. Barberich said. Sepracor designed Soltara, a refined version of Johnson & Johnson's Hismanal, to be free of side effects that forced the older drug off the market in 1999.

The FDA's rejection of Soltara comes after setbacks in Sepracor's efforts to develop improved versions of other drugs including Eli Lilly & Co.'s Prozac antidepressant and Johnson & Johnson's Propulsid heartburn treatment.

Sun sues Microsoft for anti-competitive behavior

SAN JOSE, Calif. >> Sun Microsystems Inc. sued rival Microsoft Corp. for more than $1 billion today because the software giant made the Windows XP operating system incompatible with Sun's Java programming language.

Drawing on the 2000 federal court ruling that found Microsoft abused its illegal monopoly power, Sun accused Microsoft of "extensive anticompetitive conduct" that forced other companies to distribute products that don't work with Java, effectively crippling Java and inhibiting its growth.

This case comes less than two months after another fierce competitor, AOL Time Warner, sued Microsoft for allegedly using its dominant position to crush the rival Netscape Navigator Web browser.