HEALTH

Wellcome Trust Had to Accept Glaxo Offer, Official Says: In the trust’s first public statement about selling its stake in London-based pharmaceutical company Wellcome, the chairman of the Wellcome Trust scientific committee told a British Parliament panel that it had a fiduciary duty as a charity to accept “a very good deal.” Parliament members had summoned executives from Wellcome, the trust and Glaxo because of concerns about the deal’s effect on Britain. The deal is likely to eliminate tens of thousands of jobs worldwide. Glaxo, a pharmaceutical firm based in Middlesex, England, made a $14-billion bid for the trust’s 39.5% stake in Wellcome last month. Trust official Dr. Julian Jack said the money will generate an extra $79 million a year that could go into medical research, creating as many as 1,000 jobs in Britain.