Ruling a boost to Mylan

Shares of Mylan Laboratories Inc. rose nearly 7 percent yesterday on a court-ordered decision that the Food and Drug Administration not approve any more generic versions of Pfizer Inc.'s Norvasc until at least April 13. Mylan was the first to file for a generic version of Norvasc, a blood pressure drug, and was granted approval with a 180-day exclusivity period. It launched the generic version last week. The court order halting FDA generic approvals means only that Mylan and Pfizer will have their drugs on the market in the short term. Mylan shares settled back at the close, up $1.06, or 5.2 percent, at $21.28. Separately, Mylan said it had begun marketing ciprofloxacin extended-release tablets, the generic version of Bayer Pharmaceuticals' Cipro XR tablets. The drug is used to treat urinary tract infections.

PNC exec goes to brokerage

PNC Wealth Management chief investment strategist Jeffrey Kleintop left last week for retail brokerage LPL Financial Services in Boston. Mr. Kleintop had been with PNC Financial Services Group since 2000. Separately, Ernst & Young LLP has agreed to a $1.5 million settlement without admitting or denying a claim from the Securities and Exchange Commission that it failed to provide independent advice to PNC Financial Services Group when it sold the company a financial product from American International Group Inc., contributing to accounting errors at PNC that led to a $155 million restatement of earnings.

CSX off the rails, feds say

Federal railroad officials said yesterday that an investigation found more than 3,500 defects at CSX Corp. railroad properties in 23 states. The probe was started in response to a series of accidents involving the company's trains. The Federal Railroad Administration's inspection, conducted from Jan. 19 to Jan. 22, after a derailment on Jan. 16 in East Rochester, N.Y., recommended that CSX be fined for 199 violations, including failure to replace defective rails, and failure to make repairs.

Also in business ...

Gasoline prices in the region held steady this week, with the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded up one-tenth of a cent to $2.601 ... The deadline to apply for grants under the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program has been extended to April 13. For more information, call 1-866-857-7095 ... Harry Page, who was president and chief operating officer of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Corp. until December, will retire Sunday. Mr. Page became vice president of engineering after Esmark Inc. gained control of the steelmaker ... Ronald E. Smith has retired as chief operating officer and executive vice president of CNX Gas Corp. ... Calgon Carbon Corp. reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $8.4 million vs. a net loss of $5.7 million a year ago.