Walgreens' billion-dollar Medicare-biz forecasting mistake

Also, the Wall Street Journal examines the collapse of the Vascular Biogenics initial public offering.

The Wall Street Journal: Walgreen Shakeup Followed Bad Projection
A billion-dollar forecasting error in Walgreen Co.'s Medicare-related business has cost the jobs of two top executives and alarmed big investors. At an April board meeting, Chief Financial Officer Wade Miquelon forecast $8.5 billion in fiscal 2016 pharmacy-unit earnings, based partly on contracts to sell drugs under Medicare (Siconolfi, 8/19).

The Wall Street Journal: Broken Commitment Ruined Vascular Biogenics IPO
The events that led to the collapse of the IPO haven't been previously reported. The highly unusual event -- many traders and investors struggled to recall another IPO being canceled in such a manner -- was a major setback for a company seeking money to pay for clinical trials to complete its work on treatments for cancer and other diseases. For executives, it also raised questions about the role of underwriters in an offering (Demos, 8/19).