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Area jobless rates fall

BOSTON - Unemployment rates in Central Massachusetts metropolitan areas dropped in December from the same month a year earlier.

The jobless rate in the Worcester area was 8.6 percent in December, down from 9.5 percent a year earlier, according to numbers released yesterday by the state Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. In the Leominster-Fitchburg-Gardner area, the December jobless rate of 10.7 percent was down from 11.8 percent a year earlier.

The Athol area, the smallest metro area in Central Massachusetts, recorded a 10.5 percent unemployment rate in December, down from 12 percent a year earlier.

All the rates were left unadjusted for seasonal employment effects.

Amherst center recorded the lowest unemployment rate in the state at 5.1 percent. The highest rate of 12.1 percent was recorded in the Lawrence area, which included Methuen and Salem, N.H.

- Lisa Eckelbecker

Generex expands test

WORCESTER - Generex Biotechnology Corp. said it will test its experimental breast cancer vaccine on more patients.

The company also said it has reached an agreement to raise $3 million from undisclosed investors.

Generex is based in Toronto, with a vaccines operation called Antigen Express Inc. in Worcester. Generex said yesterday in a news release that it has amended an agreement with the Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine Inc. to increase the number of patients in a breast cancer vaccine trial from 190 to 330. The criteria for patients has also been modified to ensure a good representation of patients, Generex said.

Under the financing deal, investors have agreed to buy up to 6 million shares of Generex common stock and warrants to purchase common shares. The investors will also have an option to buy an additional 3 million share of common stock and warrants during the 60-day period after the initial closing, Generex said.

AE37, the Antigen Express vaccine technology, is designed to help treat cancer by boosting a patient's immune system.

- Lisa Eckelbecker

ECI Biotech grant

WORCESTER - ECI Biotech, a developer of diagnostic sensors for pathogens, has been awarded a Massachusetts Workforce Training Express Program grant of $12,400 that will help train current and newly hired employees.

The grant will enable ECI employees to be trained for ISO (International Organization for Standardization) compliance. It will pay about a third of the company's training...

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