HEALTH

Pharmaceutical Product to Buy Applied Bioscience: Wilmington, N.C.-based Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc. said it will pay as much as $467 million in stock to purchase Applied Bioscience International Inc., creating the world’s third-largest drug contract research company. Pharmaceutical Product will be positioned behind Corning Inc. and Quintiles Transnational Corp. in the fast-growing business of conducting research for drug companies that are outsourcing to cut costs. The purchase will expand Pharmaceutical Product’s operations in Europe and increase its ability to take a drug from early to late stages of development. Arlington, Va.-based Applied Bioscience shares rose $2.438 to $11.563 in trading of 3.32 million. Shares in Pharmaceutical Product fell 4.5 cents to $35.