Tax advisory firm adds transfer pricing division
WTP Advisors, the tax and business advisory firm in White Plains, has acquired the transfer pricing and international structuring business of Michael J. Flaherty L.L.C., a Stamford, Conn., law firm that advises on cross-border transactions to some of the largest multinational companies in the world.
The new division will be named WTP Cross Border and will be led by attorney Michael Flaherty.
“The U.S. is the grandfather of transfer pricing law and interpretation, and Michael (Flaherty) is an expert in the field,” said Ian Boccaccio, co-founder and partner of WTP Advisors.
“Given the enormous growth in this area, we are excited to have him on board to help clients optimize their tax positions through strategic transfer pricing planning.”
Transfer pricing ”“ the way in which a multinational company prices goods, services, intangibles and capital to and among its foreign affiliates ”“ has become one of the most contentious areas of reporting between taxpayers and tax regulators in foreign countries.
WTP Cross Border will help companies develop transfer pricing strategies and documentation. “With the right strategies, transfer pricing can be a cornerstone of a company”™s financial success ”¦ Companies often see other major benefits as a byproduct of the planning process,” said Boccaccio.
ENT and Allergy Associates expands on Long Island
Tarrytown-based ENT and Allergy Associates L.L.P. has expanded its Long Island locations in a merger with Suffolk County-based Peconic Ear, Nose, Throat & Facial Plastic Surgery P.C. The merger takes effect July 1.
The deal adds three offices in Aquebogue, East Hampton and Southampton to the ENTA practice. They will complement ENTA”™s existing offices in Nassau County”™s Garden City and Lake Success.
With the merger, ENTA has more than 125 physicians in 38 clinical offices in the metropolitan area.
Biotechs among best places to work
Two biotechnology companies in Westchester County have been ranked among the 40 best places to work in the life sciences industry by The Scientist magazine.
Acorda Therapeutics Inc. in Hawthorne, which develops drug therapies for nervous-system disorders, ranked fifth in the Best Places to Work Industry 2011 survey. The company employs some 160 workers at 15 Skyline Drive in the Mid-Westchester Executive Park.
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. in the town of Greenburgh ranked 35th on the top-40 list. The company, which develops and commercializes drug treatments for serious medical conditions, employs 1,500 workers at its headquarters and lab facilities at The Landmark at Eastview, a manufacturing plant in Rensselaer and a satellite office in Bridgewater, N.J.
Regeneron was ranked 23rd in the magazine survey in 2010. Acorda this year made the list for the first time.
Only one other New York-based company, Pfizer Inc., ranked among the top workplaces for scientists at 29th.
Curemark tests new drug for schizophrenia
Curemark L.L.C., a biotechnology company in Rye focusing on treatments for neurological diseases, plans to further test a new drug compound that recently tested well in lab mice as a treatment for schizophrenia.
Curemark officials said the compound, CM-182, lowered hyperactive behavior in the chakragati mouse, considered a model for screening antipsychotic drugs. The mouse model screening was done by Cerca Insights, a contract research organization in Malaysia.
Matthew Heil, Curemark executive vice president of drug development and research, said the company is further investigating the compound”™s potential to affect other symptoms associated with schizophrenia.
Curemark CEO Joan Fallon said the compound also shows promise for treatment of hyperactivity. She said the company soon will initiate an Investigative New Drug application with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to begin phased trials of CM-182.
Fallon, a long-time pediatric chiropractor in Westchester, launched Curemark in 2004 after finding a common lack of protein digestion in children with symptoms of autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Its first product in development, CM-AT, an autism treatment, is in phase III clinical trials on humans.
