In today’s Bulldog blog tech and life science roundup, check out headline news from Cornerstone Therapeutics, Nokia, Pozen, Duke Energy and a tech exec who says he was fired because of a conviction for domestic violence:

  • Tech firm fires CEO convicted of domestic violence

SAN FRANCISCO — A wealthy Internet entrepreneur recently convicted of domestic violence has been terminated as CEO of a San Francisco startup online advertising company.

RadiumOne said in a statement that its board of directors decided Saturday night to fire CEO and Chairman Gurbaksh Chahal.

Chahal, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this month to battery and domestic violence battery, both misdemeanors, in the August 2013 beating of his girlfriend.

On Friday, the Democratic National Committee said it returned Chahal’s $20,000 donation in the wake of his conviction. RadiumOne made no mention of Chahal’s conviction when announcing his ouster late Saturday.

But Chahal said in a blog post Monday that he was fired when he told board members he wouldn’t resign.

  • Pozen Shares Fall 10% on Products Delay

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Shares in Pozen (Nasdaq: POZN) fell 95 cents, or 10.4 percent, to $8.18 Monday after the company announced a delay in progress of potential new pain relievers.

In a letter from the FDA, the agency said it had found “inspection deficiencies” at a manufacturing plant where the pain relievers PA8140 and PA 32540 are to be made. 

The problem must be corrected before Pozen’s New Drug Application can be approved. 

“Although we were hopeful for a first cycle approval, we believe that the issues raised during the inspection can be remedied to the satisfaction of the FDA. The timing of the inspection of this facility was unfortunate as the final inspection report was only issued today. Because it occurred so close to our PDUFA date, there was no opportunity to address the issues raised,” said John Plachetka, Pozen’s Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. “We don’t want to speculate on the timing of the resubmission of the NDA, or the timeline for eventual FDA action on that resubmission until we have had a chance to talk again with all the concerned parties, including the FDA. We will move as quickly as we can to resolve any outstanding issues. We hope to be able to provide more information about timing during our earnings call on May 8th.”

  • Duke Solar Efforts Crack Top 10 List

CHARLOTTE – Duke Energy progress and Duke Energy Carolinas both made the “Top 10” list for solar efforts in 2013.

The Solar Electric Power Association ranked Duke Energy Progress fifth and Duke Energy Carolinas 10th for solar adoption.

The full list can be found here: www.sepatop10.org.

New Name for Cornerstone Therapeutics

CARY, N.C. – Cornerstone Therapeutics has a new name.

Chiesi USA.

The change follows Cornerstone’s recent acquisition by Chiesi Farmaceutici, which is based in Italy. 

  • Nokia Eyes Turnaround with New CEO, Dividend

HELSINKI — Nokia Corp. reported Tuesday another drop in sales in the troubled devices unit it sold to Microsoft, but its shares rallied as it named a new CEO, promised a special dividend, and prepared to focus on its remaining businesses.

Reporting its last quarter to include cellphones, Nokia said Tuesday that net loss in the period was 239 million euros compared with a loss of 272 million a year earlier. Revenue also fell, to 2.6 billion euros ($3.6 billion) from 3.1 billion euros. Mobile device sales plunged 30 percent to 1.9 billion euros, but Nokia gave no figures for how many Lumia smartphones or tablets it sold.

Nokia said it has appointed Rajeev Suri, the Indian-born former head of Nokia Solutions and Networks, to take over the Finnish company as the new CEO on May 1. The 46-year-old Suri, who joined Nokia in 1995, has been largely credited with a turnaround in the company’s networks sector.