Wire/staff reports

PITTSBURGH - One of the world's largest generic drug makers, Mylan Laboratories Inc., will buy King Pharmaceuticals Inc. for $4 billion in stock as Mylan makes a stronger foray into the branded drug market.

Bristol, Tenn.-based King and Mylan, which is based in Canonsburg, Pa., a suburb of Pittsburgh, will create a company with combined annual revenues of about $3 billion and a work force of 6,000 people.

Mydoom virus hits Google search engine

Google Inc.'s search engine, the most used in the world, malfunctioned after it was infected by the Mydoom virus that also struck corporate and personal computers.

A variant of the Mydoom virus that infected 300,000 computers in February spread through e-mails, anti-virus software companies McAfee Inc. and Symantec Corp. said. It interfered with Internet queries at Google's Web site, spokesman David Krane said. It also hit the Yahoo and Lycos search engines.

The virus, Mydoom.O, is the first to use Internet search engines to find other computers to infect, and it hampered Google's ability to handle search requests, said Brian Mann, outbreak manager with Santa Clara, Calif.-based McAfee. The virus uses search engines to gather e-mail addresses for possible infection.

Benefits company Humana profits up

LOUISVILLE - Humana Inc. posted higher second-quarter earnings Monday, buoyed by its robust government business as the health benefits company reported it was on track to achieve record earnings.

The company reported net income of $80.8 million, or 50 cents a share, for the quarter ending June 30, up from $69.3 million, or 43 cents a share, in the year-ago period.

Revenues for the most recent quarter totaled $3.4 billion, up 13 percent from $3.03 billion a year ago.

Toyota recalls Camrys for air bag problem

DETROIT - Toyota Motor Co. is recalling 128,316 Camry sedans because the side air bags may not inflate properly, the automaker said Monday.

Involved in the recall are Camry sedans from model years 2002-2004 that have optional side air bags. The defect hasn't been blamed for any deaths or injuries, Toyota spokeswoman Julie Alfonso said. The cars were made at Toyota's Georgetown, Ky., plant.

The company is scheduled to begin notifying customers about the recall next month.

International Paper reports higher profit

STAMFORD, Conn. - International Paper Co. said Monday its second-quarter profit more than doubled from a year ago, citing improving economic conditions, better prices and stronger demand.

The world's largest paper company said it earned $193 million, or 40 cents per share, in the April-June period compared with $88 million, or 19 cents per share, for the same period last year.

Excluding one-time charges and gains, the company earned 41 cents a share in the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 38 cents per share by analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call.

Revenue for the quarter was $6.5 billion, up from $6.1 billion a year ago.

IHOP plans 20 new prototype stores here

IHOP Corp. will break ground today at its newest location in Milford - the first of as many as 20 new company-owned prototype stores that the pancake house will bring to Greater Cincinnati as it re-enters the market or the first time in 18 years.

Other locations to be developed soon include Oakley, Anderson Township and Forest Park.

The new restaurants will serve as test kitchens for new marketing and operations initiatives, including a new menu and new store designs.

Short-term Treasury rates highest since '02

WASHINGTON - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest level since 2002.

The Treasury Department auctioned $18 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 1.425 percent. Another $16 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 1.735 percent.

The three-month rate was up from 1.330 percent last week and was the highest since three-month bills averaged 1.550 percent on Oct. 28, 2002. The six-month rate was up from 1.650 percent last week and was the highest since 1.765 percent on June 24, 2002.

Chiquita appoints pair in marketing

Chiquita Brands International Inc. Monday made two changes that it said would strengthen its North American category development and marketing organizations.

The company appointed Sherrie Terry, 46, to the new position of vice president of category development and Joe Huston, 33, vice president of marketing

Terry has served as Chiquita's vice president of marketing in North America for eight years. She will be responsible for enhancing the company's category management competitive advantage in bananas and other produce.

Huston joins Chiquita after more than 10 years at Procter & Gamble. Most recently he worked as marketing director, new business opportunities, for P&G's global Wal-Mart team in Fayetteville, Ark.

Craig Lindner joins National City board

S. Craig Lindner, co-president of American Financial Group, has been appointed to the board of Cleveland-based National City Corp.

His appointment comes after National City this month closed on its $2.1 billion purchase of Cincinnati's Provident Financial Group Inc., parent of Provident Bank.

Lindner is the son of Reds owner Carl Lindner and part of the family that owned nearly 40 percent of Provident's shares.