Business news in brief

Pennsylvania ranked third nationwide, and New Jersey was ninth, for private equity investment in 2013, according to data from the Washington-based Private Equity Growth Capital Council. Private equity firms invested $44.4 billion in 91 Pennsylvania companies last year, and $12.6 billion in 84 New Jersey companies, according to the council. Texas received the most investment from private equity (measured in dollars invested) totaling $87.4 billion in 282 companies, and California came in second, the council said. The "Private Equity: Top States and Districts" analysis found that, nationwide, private equity and growth capital invested $443 billion in more than 2,300 U.S.-based companies. - Reid Kanaley

Brotman Enterprises L.L.C., a Bucks County real estate company, agreed to pay $25,000 to resolve allegations that its agents discriminated against African American prospective renters, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development said. Brotman employees allegedly steered white testers posing as rental applicants to neighborhoods described as safer, while directing black testers to areas agents considered "rough," HUD said. The National Fair Housing Alliance, which receives HUD funds to combat housing discrimination, filed the complaint against Brotman after alliance testers visited Brotman agents in the Feasterville-Trevose area. - Erin Arvedlund

Fox Chase Cancer Center and Jeanes Hospital, both part of Temple University Health System, will become in-network providers to members of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey on July 1, Horizon announced. The move casts a wider net for patients at Fox Chase, which is one of 41 Comprehensive Cancer Centers nationwide, as designated by the National Cancer Institute. Temple reported a $27.9 million net loss for the nine months ended March 31, but the system's main Temple University Hospital had net income of $4.5 million. That performance was "partially offset by greater year over year losses at the Fox Chase Cancer Center largely due to reduced inpatient volumes and outpatient treatment," Temple said in a report to bondholders. - Harold Brubaker

Antares Pharma Inc., of Ewing, N.J., said that chief executive officer Paul K. Wotton had resigned. Board member Eamonn P. Hobbs will immediately become CEO and president. Antares Pharma has a medication for rheumatoid arthritis, among other products. Hobbs is a former CEO of Delcath Systems Inc. Wotton, who has led Antares since October, 2008, has been named president and CEO at Advanced Cell Technology Inc., a Marlborough, Mass., a biotech company developing stem cell technology. - David Sell

Merck & Co.'s efforts to add to its product pipeline continued Tuesday with a licensing agreement with Australian drugmaker Bionomics. Merck will pay $20 million up front and as much as $506 million if a drug for Alzheimer's disease pans out. In 2013, Merck and Bionomics struck a licensing deal for a compound that might be used to fight forms of cancer. According to Bionomics, Merck will pay for research and development, and worldwide sales, if it reaches the market. Merck has big operations in Montgomery County. - David Sell

Cephalon Inc., the Frazer drugmaker owned by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., won a court ruling tossing claims that it conspired with makers of generics to delay cheaper versions of its sleep-disorder medicine Provigil. U.S. District Judge Mitchell Goldberg in Philadelphia ruled that an overall conspiracy to improperly put off generic competition with the company's biggest product "cannot be established." Cephalon signed four patent settlements with generic drugmakers so they wouldn't begin selling Provigil until 2012. Wholesalers who bought the drug, health plans, and Apotex Inc., a generic drug company, filed lawsuits challenging the agreements. - Bloomberg News

U.S. home prices rose in April from a year ago at the slowest pace in 13 months, reflecting a recent drop-off in sales. The Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index rose 10.8 percent in April from 12 months earlier. That's a healthy gain, but down from 12.4 percent in the previous month and the smallest since March 2013. The index does not include Philadelphia. Annual price gains slowed in 19 of the 20 cities. Only Boston saw price increases accelerate. Home sales have slowed since last summer as mortgage rates and prices have risen. Sales of existing homes in May were 5 percent lower than 12 months earlier. - AP

Puerto Rico's government needs to move quickly to adopt measures to help pull the island out of a nearly decade-long economic slump, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said. William Dudley said during a visit to Puerto Rico that the New York Fed is working on a report that will analyze the U.S. territory's fiscal health. He said Puerto Rico should aim to lower its debt, reform its tax system and strengthen labor market incentives. - AP