Business

DrFirst Inc. is starting the year with its first new CEO in 23 years — one who plans to home in more on the pharmacy market to grow its medication management business. The Rockville company, which sells software and mobile products to medical providers to ensure patients stay on top of their treatments, saw founder and longtime chief executive James Chen step down from that role in January. Cameron Deemer, its president since 2006, assumed the top slot as Chen shifted to the executive chairman role.

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) could soon see its opioid overdose drug made more widely available after a regulatory advisory panel endorsed its use as an emergency over-the-counter treatment. The Food and Drug Administration’s Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee and Anesthetic and Analgesic Drug Products Advisory Committee voted in a joint meeting Wednesday to recommend that Narcan Nasal Spray, Emergent’s opioid overdose antidote currently available with a prescription, be made available without requiring a doctor’s order.

The Federal Hill location of Banditos Tacos & Tequila will undergo a renovation to nearly double its space to more than 5,000 square feet, Baltimore-based White Oak Hospitality announced Wednesday. To facilitate the expansion, Sean White, founder and CEO of Baltimore Based White Oak Hospitality, announced the company was closing its 101 Baltimore location, which White added aligns with the company’s overall expansion strategy which started in early 2022.

Gaithersburg biotech Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS) said Wednesday it has reached an agreement to sell its travel health business to Denmark’s Bavarian Nordic in a deal that could reach as much as $380 million with milestone payments. The sale agreement comes a little more than a month after Emergent initiated an “organizational restructuring plan” to focus on its drugs and vaccines that protect against public health threats, along with its contract development and manufacturing services.

A struggling subsidiary of Hunt Valley-based Sinclair Broadcast Group that owns regional sports networks has opted to miss a debt payment due Wednesday, setting up a potential bankruptcy reorganization. Diamond Sports Group, the nation’s largest owner of cable TV sports channels that showcase more than half of all MLB, NHL and NBA teams, said Wednesday that it plans to “maximize its financial flexibility” and will not pay the $140 million cash interest payments on its debt.

Southwest Airlines, by far the dominant airline at BWI Marshall Airport in Maryland, will top its pre-pandemic summer flight schedule this year, and it’s bringing back a transcontinental flight from the airport that it suspended in December 2020. According to the airline, for the 2023 peak summer travel season, Southwest will offer about 220 daily departures from BWI Marshall, topping its scheduled service in summer 2019. As part of its schedule extension, now set through October, Southwest will restore nonstop service from BWI to Oakland, California. The daily service to Oakland will return Sept. 5.

Edmondson Village will be sold for $17 million — weeks after a mass shooting there left one teenage student dead and four others injured. But the deal, set to close in April to a Chicago-based investment group, comes with a unique caveat. For as little as $1,000, new owner Chicago TREND is selling stakes in the 76-year-old retail strip to encourage the community to buy into its vision to pump $40 million into the center and reset its image. An online crowdfunding drive recently opened at the real estate crowdfunding site SmallChange.co with a goal of raising up to $1 million for Edmondson Village’s fresh start. Investors will be able to share in equity and investment in the center. As of Tuesday, $18,500 had been raised toward the effort, the website showed.

Given the tumultuous state of the economy, employers have plenty to be concerned about in early 2023. Recession fears are swirling. The job market remains extremely tight. Inflation is still a concern. But experts say businesses shouldn’t let those obvious challenges distract them from several under-the-radar obstacles that could trip them up in 2023. One of the big ones? The intersection of remote work and pay transparency. We’ve already touched on the increase in pay transparency laws, but attorneys say the combination of those laws and the ubiquity of remote work is causing headaches for employers.