Against the advice of some of the nation’s senior infectious disease experts, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted president Donald Trump’s request for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to allow blood plasma from convalescent Covid-19 patients to be used to treat others suffering from the same coronavirus-induced disease.
In another divestment shortly after selling its reverse osmosis business to Suez in July, German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess is unloading its organic leather chemicals business to compatriot TFL Ledertechnik, a global supplier of leather chemicals.
In another round of litigation loosely or tightly tied to acquisitions, Bayer said it will pay $1.6 billion to settle with US plaintiffs alleging that its now discontinued contraceptive device Essure had serious side effects. As the US settlements are specific to the country’s legal system, Bayer said these will have no impact on pending litigation in other countries, without providing details of the latter.
Johnson & Johnson has agreed to acquire autoimmune disease specialist Momenta Pharmaceuticals in an all-cash transaction of about $6.5 billion. Both companies’ boards of directors have unanimously approved the transaction set to close in the second half of 2020, subject to antitrust approvals and customary conditions.
Dutch distributor IMCD has acquired VitaQualy Comercio de Ingredientes, a supplier of specialty ingredients for the food, nutrition, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical markets in Brazil. Financial terms were not disclosed.
UK biopharma Celleron Therapeutics has signed a licensing deal with Roche, gaining exclusive worldwide rights to the Swiss pharma’s monoclonal antibody emactuzumab, which is designed to target and deplete macrophages in solid tumors.
The government of Australia has sealed a deal with AstraZeneca to supply enough doses of the adenovirus vector-based vaccine being developed on behalf of Oxford University to inoculate 95% of the country’s entire population of 25 million. The two sides have signed a Letter of Intentm but details on how the ambitious vaccination plan would be financed have not been revealed.
Shell is planning to take a 50% stake and invest up to $9 billion in a petrochemical complex planned by privately held Indian oil company Nayara Energy, according to Reuters news agency.
BASF has announced plans to double global capacity for its Uvinul A Plus-branded UV filters with a new line at its Kaohsiung site in Taiwan. Up to now, it has produced the filters solely at its headquarters site in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
Japanese pharma Takeda is apparently winding down the asset-shedding drive it launched following the $59 billion acquisition of Shire. The company is currently said to be in talks to sell its domestic consumer health (OTC) business to US private equity investor Blackstone.
Sanofi has agreed to buy US-based Principia Biopharma for $3.68 billion, strengthening its pipeline of treatments for autoimmune disorders. The deal gives the French drugmaker access to Principia’s bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitors, which are showing promise in blocking or disrupting the signaling processes that cause inflammation and tissue destruction in autoimmune diseases.
As the US death toll from Covid-19 creeps past the 170,000 mark, with a proven vaccine still months away, US president Donald Trump has begun promoting yet another miracle cure for the novel coronavirus. In this case, the focus is on oleandrin, an extract from the oleander plant.
Nouryon has revealed Green Bay in Wisconsin, USA, as the site for its Expancel expansion. The Dutch chemicals company announced last year that it planned to hike capacity for the expandable microspheres, but did not reveal a location for the new plant.
As a fully digital player in the chemical industry, CheMondis regularly offers webinars for buyers and suppliers.
Maire Tecnimont’s green chemistry division NextChem has formed a partnership with Brazilian industrial biotech GranBio to co-license the latter’s patented technology to produce second-generation ethanol.
German biotech CureVac has more than tripled its market value to over $5 billion in an initial public offering launched on the US Nasdaq Global Market. Altogether 13.33 million shares changed hands at $16 each, the high end of the offered range. Separately, CureVac is raising €100 million in a private placement.
Univar Solutions has launched a program to accelerate growth and increase earnings, which may also result in the sale of certain non-core assets.
Germany’s Henkel has entered into an agreement with compatriot firm Invincible Brands Holding to take a 75% stake in a business that comprises three fast-growing premium direct-to-consumer (D2C) beauty brands: HelloBody, Banana Beauty and Mermaid+Me.
Animal health biopharma Invetx has launched an antibody-based platform for the discovery and development of novel medicines for veterinarians and pet owners.
Momentive Performance Materials is selling its consumer sealants business to Henkel for an undisclosed sum in a move the US firm said will enable greater focus on unique silicones and specialty applications where it has “a strong ability to win”.
Bayer is to acquire UK biotech Kandy Therapeutics in a move that will expand its drug development pipeline in women’s healthcare.
Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht has begun the initial process to sell up to its full shareholding in polyolefins producer Braskem. Odebrecht is selling its stake in order to fulfil commitments it made to creditors, both before and during its bankruptcy, Braskem said.
Nouryon is to expand monochloroacetic acid (MCA) production capacity at its site in Delfzijl, the Netherlands, by the end of 2020.
US API specialist LGM Pharma has acquired the formulation development and drug product contract manufacturing business of specialty pharma company Nexgen Pharma for an undisclosed sum.
Why BASF Venture Capital is investing in SmartAHC, a supplier of digitalization solutions for pig farming on the Chinese market.
The Austrian government is sharing a third of the cost of a €150 million upgrade Novartis' generics unit Sandoz is stemming at its Kundl, Austria, facility. The Swiss drugmaker claims this is the last remaining integrated production chain for antibiotics in the Western world.
After teaming up with Germany’s BioNTech to develop a vaccine for Covid-19, US drugs giant Pfizer is joining US Gilead Sciences on the therapeutic side. The biopharma company’s antiviral remdesivir is currently favored as a treatment for the novel coronavirus.
Johnson Matthey has won a contract to build a third methanol synthesis plant for China’s Ningxia Baofeng Energy at its coal-to-olefins complex near Yinchuan in Ningxia province.
UK chemical exports in the second quarter of this year have steadied but uncertainty looms for the rest of 2020 with risks from both Covid-19 and Brexit, said the Chemical Industries Association (CIA).
Brenntag has bought the operating assets of US-based Suffolk Solutions’ caustic soda distribution business, gaining access to a bulk terminal and rail transloading facility in the Virginia port city of the same name. The acquired business had sales of about $15.6 million in the fiscal year ending Apr. 30, 2020.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC)’s shipping and maritime logistics subsidiary ADNOC Logistics & Services (ADNOC L&S) has formed a joint venture with China’s Wanhua Chemical, regarded as the world’s leading producer of polyurethane starting material MDI.
In a much heeded licensing deal, AstraZeneca (AZ) has awarded Chinese pharma BioKangta sole commercial rights to its AZD1222 Covid-19 vaccine candidate in the People’s Republic. The UK drugmaker is developing the adenovirus vector-based vaccine on behalf of Oxford University, which created it.
UK-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has entered into a global development and commercialization agreement with Daiichi Sankyo, which could be worth up to $6 billion for the Japanese pharma.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has struck a deal with the US government worth just over $1 billion to supply 100 million doses of subsidiary Janssen’s SARS-CoV-2 investigational vaccine, Ad26.COV2.S. The terms apply solely to manufacturing of the vaccine in the US but the company suggests it could be distributed worldwide.
Last week’s announcement that photography group Eastman Kodak had received a 25-year, $765 million US government loan to produce active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) took the market by surprise. The plan was said to be to secure a national emergency supply, in order to reduce dependence on Chinese and Indian imports.
