Business briefs: FDA weighs target population for Amgen cholesterol drug

WASHINGTON – Federal health regulators said Monday a highly anticipated, experimental drug from Amgen significantly lowers bad cholesterol. But officials have questions about who should take the drug and whether to approve it based on currently available data.

The Food and Drug Administration posted its review of Amgen’s Repatha ahead of a public meeting to consider its approval. Repatha is the part of a new class of injectable, cholesterol-lowing drugs that work differently than older, statin drugs. The new drugs are considered the first major advance in lowering bad, or LDL, cholesterol in more than 20 years, and analysts expect them to generate billions in sales.

But the prospect of approving pricey, new injectable drugs for one of the most common medical conditions in America is already drawing concerns from health insurers, providers and pharmacy benefits managers.

More than 73 million U.S. adults, or nearly one-third, have high LDL cholesterol, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The FDA is considering which patients should receive a prescription for drugs like Repatha.

Economists see weaker growth than forecast

U.S. economic growth in the second quarter will be far weaker than previously expected and it will prevent the pace of growth from exceeding last year’s 2.4 percent, according to a forecast by a group of U.S. business economists.

Growth is expected to accelerate significantly in the third quarter, but “sluggish” conditions in the first three months of the year will persist into the second quarter and drag down average growth for the year, a survey by the National Association for Business Economists said Monday.

Justices will review Tyson’s workplace suit

WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court agreed Monday to weigh new limits on the ability of workers to band together to dispute pay and workplace issues.

The justices said they will review a $5.8 million class-action judgment against Tyson Foods Inc. over the pay for more than 3,000 workers at its Storm Lake, Iowa, pork processing plant.

The case could allow the high court to elaborate on its 2011 decision blocking a massive sex-discrimination case against Wal-Mart Stores Inc. that would have included up to 1.6 million female workers.

Fishery council cuts halibut-discard limit

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Sunday voted to reduce by 25 percent the amount of halibut a Seattle-based bottom trawl fleet can catch and discard while pursuing other species of fish in the Bering Sea.

The federal council’s 6-3 vote in Sitka, Alaska, capped days of emotional testimony and debate over how to deal with the trawl fleet’s bycatch of halibut that are netted as the fleet pursues large volumes of lower-value fish such as yellowfin sole.

Federal rules allow only hook-and-line fishermen, known as longliners, to bring the halibut to market. The trawlers are required to dump the halibut overboard, even though scientists estimate most of the fish do not survive.

During the past decade, the trawl fleet has jettisoned an estimated 82 million pounds of dead and dying halibut.

The scope of those discards – at a time of concern about halibut stocks – has fueled a bitter North Pacific fish dispute that preoccupied the council during the Sitka meeting.