RIDE HAILING

Judge rules city not required to hold Uber, Lyft to same standards as taxis

A federal judge has ruled that Boston is not required to hold digital-age transportation services such as Uber and Lyft to the same rules as taxi companies, using a new state law to dismiss a case against the city from a group of cab owners. The cab companies had argued in their lawsuit that Boston was violating their equal protection rights by holding them to strict standards while not regulating the Uber drivers they compete with. Taxi companies follow a number of municipal rules that include a permitting process, vehicle standards, and fare rates set by the city. US District Court Judge Nathaniel Gorton had previously shown some sympathy to the equal protection argument. In March, he declined to dismiss the claim and said ride-hailing services and taxi companies share many similarities. In a decision issued Wednesday, however, Gorton dismissed the claim, saying it was made irrelevant when the Massachusetts Legislature brought drivers for Uber and similar companies under state oversight and largely prohibited local governments from creating their own rules for those services. Gorton said that means Boston now cannot be expected to govern Uber and Lyft. — ADAM VACCARO

FLOWERS

Boston Flower Exchange closes out last holiday season in the South End

For vendors at the ­century-old Boston Flower ­Exchange, the holiday season is wrapping up — in more ways than one. The last of the poinsettias, wreaths, and festive cut greens have been taken out of the sprawling warehouse, the end of a 45-year run as a new owner prepares to build a tech-office campus on the Albany Street property. A vestige of early 20th century commerce, the iconic wholesale ­cooperative, founded in 1909 at a nearby location in the South End, might be a casualty of gentrification, but it will live on in a new city, and under a new name. All but two wholesalers will move to a 65,000-square-foot facility on Second Street in Chelsea and operate as the New England Flower Exchange. Abbey Group, which is buying the Boston Flower Exchange property, reportedly for more than $40 million, also bought the name. Just 6 miles north, the Chelsea location was the closest property they could find suitable for industrial use. — KATHELEEN CONTI

BIOTECHNOLOGY

New Biogen chief wants to strengthen drug pipeline

The incoming chief executive of Biogen Inc. told stock analysts Tuesday that he’ll conduct a review of the company’s operations with the aim of strengthening its pipeline of drugs in development, and he called efforts to find a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease the Cambridge biotech’s “No. 1 challenge and opportunity.’’ Michel Vounatsos, who will take over Jan. 6, said he’ll outline his vision when the review is completed over the next few months. While he said he wants to invest in the company’s research efforts and its people, he also hinted at broad changes — including leadership changes — but stopped short of offering specifics. “A new CEO has to build his team,’’ Vounatsos said in his first conference call with analysts. Vounatsos, 55, who joined Biogen as chief commercial officer in April, made it clear he wants to expand Biogen’s roster of drug candidates through partnerships with other drug makers and acquisitions of drug development programs — and, possibly, by buying other companies. But he provided no details about companies or drug development areas that Biogen, the world leader in multiple sclerosis medicines, might be considering. — ROBERT WEISMAN

BANKING

Berkshire Bank sued over alleged $1.4 million cyberscam

Berkshire Bank was the alleged target of an increasingly common type of cyberheist this fall that bilked a longtime customer out of more than $1 million, according to a lawsuit filed last week. Jim Jacobs, a Florida-based modern art dealer, filed suit in US District Court in Springfield alleging that the bank’s inadequate fraud detection systems allowed criminals to steal $1.4 million from his account and move the money to Hong Kong through two wire transfers in October. Jacobs, who has ties to the Western Massachusetts art community, opened his personal account with Great Barrington Savings Bank in 1980, before it merged with what eventually became Berkshire Bank, now an $8 billion institution. According to the lawsuit, over the years Jacobs’s account grew significantly, and he was assigned a personal banker at Berkshire Bank who handled his transactions — a common practice among financial institutions looking to cater to high-net-worth clients. Over the course of a week in October, the personal banker fell for three fake, or spoofed, e-mails from somebody pretending to be Jacobs. The imposter directed the banker to transfer $580,000 and $826,000 into two separate banks in Hong Kong, suggesting the payments were related to the work of abstract painter Agnes Martin, according to the lawsuit. Berkshire Bank failed to verify that Jacobs was actually making the requests, according to the lawsuit. The transactions should have raised red flags at Berkshire Bank because Jacobs had never done business with the companies receiving the money, nor their Hong Kong banks, in the past, according to the lawsuit. — DEIRDRE FERNANDES

ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Watertown maker of wireless battery charging systems allies with General Motors

WiTricity Corp., a Watertown-based maker of wireless battery charging systems, has allied with General Motors Corp. to test a system that recharges electric vehicles without plugging them in. WiTricity’s technology, initially developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, uses an electromagnetic field, rather than an electrical cable, to pump power into a car’s battery. The car simply drives onto a charging pad to make the connection. The pad must be connected to a power supply. “GM wanted to work with us, to show how well it would work integrated into a real car,’’ Witricity chief executive Alex Gruzen said. Carmakers around the world are developing wireless electric chargers. In response, SAE International, a global automotive industry group, is creating technical standards for such systems. The WiTricity-GM tests will help ensure that WiTricity’s systems comply with the SAE standards. Many would-be buyers resent the hassle of having to plug in their cars at night and fear being stranded if they forget. Gruzen said WiTricity’s wireless charging system should be available for purchase by the end of 2017. — HIAWATHA BRAY

HEALTH CARE

GE chooses New England Baptist Hospital as preferred provider for hip, knee replacements

General Electric Co. has selected New England Baptist Hospital as a preferred provider of hip and knee replacement surgeries for its employees, a new twist in the efforts by big companies to control health care costs. The agreement, one of the first of its kind for a Boston hospital, allows GE to contract directly with the hospital instead of going through a health insurer. Under the arrangement, GE will waive out-of-pocket costs and cover travel expenses for any employee who chooses to have hip or knee surgery at the hospital in Boston’s Mission Hill. The deal might be most appealing to GE’s roster of about 5,000 employees in Massachusetts, but it will be open to all of GE’s 100,000 workers nationwide. GE, starting with a 2013 deal with the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, has named six other preferred hospitals for joint care in other states. It has a similar arrangement with a health system in Ohio for maternity care, and it is looking for additional hospital partners. — PRIYANKA DAYAL MCCLUSKEY