THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2019 The Boston Globe Business B9
ment. The site is across from Won-
derland Station on the Blue Line,
still consideredthe Cadillac of
MBTA lines (even with the occa-
sionalmishap).And thenthere’s
the possibility of tax benefits for
investors — “190 Wonderland,” as
it’s called now, sits within a feder-
ally designated Opportunity Zone.
Newmark Knight Frank will
accept offers in mid-September,
and hopesto identify a winnerby
earlyOctober. The brokerage is
marketing the placeas a mixed-
use development— akin to what
has sprung up at the similarly
sized Assembly Row property in
Somerville — withoffices, apart-
ments, hotel rooms, restaurants,
shops.
If Arrigo and other Revere offi-
cials have their way, the new hous-
ing wouldbe limited.They want a
heavy emphasis on commercial
development, suchas officesand
labs — the kind of construction
that brings permanent jobs.
uCHESTO
ContinuedfromPageB6
Can you blame them? The dog
track wasn’t the only majorlocal
employer to close. The Suffolk
Downs horse track on the Boston-
Revere line has gone quiet to make
way for development, leaving only
a small cadreof workers at the si-
mulcasting operation. Andthe
Necco candyfactory closed
abruptlylast summer, the Sweet-
hearts and Sky Barsscattered
amongvarious hungry buyers.
The city’s two biggest remaining
employers are supermarkets: a
Market Basket and a Stop & Shop.
Arrigo had hopes for Amazon
and its HQ2beauty contest. Bos-
ton’s bid, which ropedin Revere
because it focusedon Suffolk
Downs, made it to the final 20. But
the retail giant headed elsewhere.
Significant employers are still ex-
pected at Suffolk Downseventual-
ly, but the first phase of that devel-
opmenton the Revere side is pri-
marily residential.
Drawing businesses to Won-
derlandcouldhave another bene-
fit: more public transit. Commutertrains rushpast the backof the
property but do not stop. City offi-
cials have long wanted a train sta-
tion there, to serve the Wonder-
landsite and the Necco property
across the tracks.Developers
might be enticed to help pay for a
station if it would help bring work-
ers from the North Shore. After all,
Federal Realty did something sim-
ilar at Assembly, helping to pay for
a new Orange Line station, and
New Balance did the same with
the Boston Landing commuter rail
station. A connection between the
commuter rail and the Blue Line is
also envisioned at Wonderland.
All the betting in Revere might
be happening in the real estate
market thesedays, but on hotels
and apartmentsfor now. We may
soon find out just how many chips
developers will put down on an ex-
pansive project that would attract
major employers, too.Jon Chesto canbe reached at
[email protected]. Followhim
on Twitter@jonchesto.Indeed, his first test came
quickly. In May 2018, Novartis
got dragged into the circus sur-
rounding MichaelCohen, the for-
mer attorney for PresidentTrump
whowas convicted of fraud and
perjury. The company’s associa-
tion with Cohen, who had pitched
himself as a fixer for Novartis,
“completely blindsided”
Narasimhan,he said months lat-
er.
The damage from the crisis,
however, was limitedfor
Narasimhan, largely becausethe
relationship with Cohen had been
cemented under his predecessor.
Over the followingmonths,
Narasimhanwon industry praise
for his candorand his efforts to
transform Novartis, includingby
sellingoff parts of the company
not focused on its core business
of prescriptiondrugs.
Now, though,the latest mis-
steps occurredsolely underhis
uNOVARTIS
ContinuedfromPageB6
watch.
“He comes off a great high,
and thenthey get slappedwith
this,” saidJohn LaMattina,a
pharmaceuticalexecutive who
led Pfizer’s researchoperation
from2003 to 2007.“If he’s going
to be a CEOwhenthings are go-
ing well,it’s toughthings like this
that really test you and proveyourworth.”
Novartis’ $8.7billionacquisi-
tion of AveXis, signed within
monthsof Narasimhantakingthe
job,was meantto be the new
CEO’s signature move,one he de-
scribed as a pivot away from
pharmaceutical dogma and an
embrace of futuristic — and po-
tentiallycurative — medicines in-cluding gene therapy.
Zolgensma, AveXis’s banner
product, looked to be a transfor-
mational medicine for spinal
muscular atrophy, a rare disorder
whose most severe form is almost
universally fatal within two years
of birth. Novartis shepherded
Zolgensmato FDA approval, put-
ting a $2.1 million price tag on
the one-timetherapy.
Now, Novartis needs to ex-
plainhowit could have over-
looked manipulated data in such
a crucialfilingto the FDA.
Accordingto the agency, No-
vartis knew as earlyas March 14
that one or morepeople at AveXis
had manipulated data supporting
Zolgensma’s approval. But the
company didn’t inform regula-
tors until June 28, more than a
month after the treatmenthad
beenon the market, the FDA
said.
In a statement, Novartis
stressedthat it had broughtthe
concerns to the FDA’s attention,and did so once it had “interim
conclusions”fromits own investi-
gation.It wasn’t clear, however,
why the company did not notify
the agency aboutpotentialissues
witha decisionon Zolgensma
pending.
The situation thrusts Novartis
backinto crisismanagement, and
it interruptsNarasimhan’s ascent
as a warmlyreceived figurein an
industry otherwisebeset by criti-
cism. It is perhaps not where the
chief executive expected to be.
“I’ve now visitedover 33 coun-
tries,seeingthe cultural change
I’ve talked aboutactuallyhappen-
ing,” Narasimhan saidin the
spring. “Whether it’s salesreps or
senior level people, the company
feelsdifferent. The company real-
ly feels like it’s changing.”DamianGarde canbe reachedat
[email protected].
Followhimon Twitter
@damiangarde.FollowStaton
Twitter:@statnews.NEWMARKKNIGHT FRANKFRANK O’BRIEN/GLOBESTAFF/FILE 1969Old Wonderland dog track spurs
new bets: on developing the site
JONATHANWIGGS/GLOBESTAFF/FILE 2010Wonderlandno
longerhad
outside racing
in 2010;at left
is a view from
the old club
house.In 1969
(top left) the
action was in
full swing.
Above is the
salesbrochure
for the
property,
highlighting its
proximity to
the BlueLine.Novartis CEO in hot seat following falsified data scandal
NOVARTISThe FDA is
lookinginto
questionable
data about
genetherapy
drug
Zolgensma
beingtested
on animals.By JenniferA. Dlouhy
BLOOMBERG NEWS
President Trump’s plan to
freezeUS vehicle efficiency
standards would result in high-
er costs for motorists without
doing anything to boost high-
way safety, accordingto an
analysis by Consumer Reports
that underminesthe adminis-
tration’s chief talkingpointsin
favor of the move.
The analysis comes as the
White House reviews a final
drafted planfor easingvehicle
emissions and fuel economy
standards, despite escalating
pressure fromsomeautomak-
ers and Californiato change
course.
The administration last year
proposed capping fuel economy
and tailpipecarbondioxide
emission standards at 2020 lev-
els, instead of allowing them to
become stricter each year as un-
der existing regulations.The
plan also calls for stripping Cal-
iforniaof its authority to regu-
late tailpipegreenhousegas
emissions.
The Transportation Depart-
mentand EnvironmentalPro-
tectionAgency arguedtheir
proposalwould pare the cost of
new automobiles and save as
many as 1,000 lives annually by
spurring motorists to trade in
older models for newer, safer
vehicles. The agencies estimat-
ed the proposal would spare
motorists some$2,340 in aver-
age new vehicle ownership
costs. They combinedthose
forecasts into the name of the
measure, dubbed the ‘‘Safer Af-
fordable Fuel Efficient Vehicles’’
— or SAFE Vehicles — proposal.
But the ConsumerReports
analysis counters the adminis-
tration’s assertionsthat the
plan wouldreducetraffic fatali-
ties and boost highway safety.
Consumer Reports argues in-
stead that ‘‘the effects on safety
fromchanges in fuel-economy
standards are quite smalland
likely not statistically different
from zero.’’
That assessment dovetailswith concerns raised quietly by
EPA officialslast year, as the ad-
ministration prepared to unveil
its plan.At the time,EPA regu-
lators repeatedlyquestionedthe
underlyingsafety assumptions,
at least once warning that the
proposed standards wouldac-
tuallybe ‘‘detrimentalto safety.’’
Representativesof the EPA
and Transportation Depart-
mentdid not immediately re-
spond to requests for comment.
The Consumer Reports anal-
ysis also paintsa starkly differ-
ent picture of potential costs for
drivers, by highlighting the im-
portanceof fuel savingsto mo-
torists. Becausemost new vehi-
cle buyers finance their pur-
chases,they can start feeling
the benefits of lowerfuel costs
right away, the group says.
And those fuel savings, in
turn, drivehigher consumer
spendingand morepurchasesof
newer, safervehicles,said the
group,the advocacy arm of the
consumerproduct researchand
testing not-for-profit.Report criticizes Trump fuel plan
888- 744 -4272(4CSB)
clintonsavings.comNMLS#422081
CommercialLendersthat
GoBeyondBanking
™