Fluor Corporation announced today that it has completed construction of Bayer’s first global Cell Therapy Launch Facility in Berkeley, California. Completion was celebrated on October 10, 2023, at the new facility with local officials, dignitaries, Bayer employees, and clients.
Jeff Rowe will become Syngenta Group's CEO on January 1, 2024, transitioning from his current role as President of Syngenta Crop Protection. The current CEO, Erik Fyrwald, will retire at the end of the year after almost seven and a half years with the company. After retiring, Fyrwald will act as an Advisor to the Chairman of Syngenta Group and retain his position on the Board of Directors.
Daiichi Sankyo and Merck & Co. to co-develop and commercialize three of Daiichi Sankyo’s DXd antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates worldwide except for Japan where Daiichi Sankyo retains exclusive rights. Merck to pay Daiichi Sankyo up to €20.8 billion for the collaboration.
The US pharmaceutical company Pfizer has been cleared to acquire Seagen, a biotech company focused on developing cancer treatments.
Brazilian chemical group Unipar Carbocloro will modernize its chlor-alkali plant in Cubatão, Brazil, with electrolyzer technology from Dortmund, Germany-headquartered Thyssenkrupp Nucera. The upgrade is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2025. According to Thyssenkrupp, Unipar will invest more than 1 billion reais (about €190 million) in the modernization.
US paints and coatings group PPG has divested all Traffic Solutions operations in Australia and New Zealand to Geveko Markings, a pavement markings specialist headquartered in Sweden. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Röhm expands its presence for MMA (Methyl Methacrylate) and PMMA (Polymethyl Methacrylate) production in Asia. China, as the world's largest market for these products, represents a prime opportunity for Röhm's specialized innovations. This development represents a pivotal point in the company's broader expansion efforts.
LyondellBasell acquired its 50% share from De Paauw Sustainable Resources (DPSR) CEO Roy de Paauw and ING Corporate Investments. DPSR is a plastics waste recycling company based out of the Netherlands.
In Canada, Belgian materials technology and recycling group Umicore is proceeding with the construction of a 35 GWh equivalent battery materials production plant in Loyalist, Ontario, to cater to the North American electric vehicle (EV) battery market. Located at about 25 km from Kingston, the plant in Loyalist will be at the heart of Canada’s automotive technology cluster.
Novo Nordisk has agreed to acquire ocedurenone for uncontrolled hypertension with potential application in cardiovascular and kidney disease from KBP Biosciences for up to $1.3 billion.
At its Capital Markets Day in Visp, Switzerland, Lonza shared a detailed update on its strategic priorities and provided new Mid-Term Guidance for 2024 to 2028.
BASF invested over €500 million to increase its production capacity by 400,000 metric tons per year. The expansion includes a world-scale ethylene oxide plant and additional capacities for EO derivatives. This investment aims to meet the rising customer demand for alkoxylates in the home care, industrial & institutional industries, and various industrial applications.
UK-headquartered drug development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Quotient Sciences has appointed Thierry Van Nieuwenhove as its new CEO, effective Oct. 16, 2023. He succeeds Mark Egerton who retires after 18 years in this role.
Swiss-based and Chinese-owned agrochemicals company Syngenta has opened its first biologicals service center at the group’s Seedcare Institute in Maintal, Germany, addressing growing farmer demand across the EU for biological seed treatment solutions.
NiTech Solutions and Croda Europe's joint project on utilizing continuous manufacturing technology has received recognition with two significant industry awards.
Navin Fluorine International Ltd (NFIL), part of the Padmanabh Mafatlal Group, has unveiled the new identity for its contract development and manufacturing division, Navin Molecular. The brand is designed to meet the need for reliable, fast, and cost-effective custom synthesis and manufacturing services for the pharmaceutical and speciality chemicals industries.
US specialty chemicals company Albemarle has announced that it will not pursue a binding agreement to purchase Liontown Resources and has formally withdrawn its non-binding offer.
Sterling Pharma Solutions has completed the acquisition of UK-based NewChem Technologies, a contract services provider focused on organic chemistry and supplying customers across a range of industries from pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and biotechnology, to veterinary science and chemicals.
Private equity group SK Capital Partners has agreed to acquire US company J&K Ingredients, currently owned by Core Industrial Partners.
German flavor and fragrance company Symrise has increased its stake in in US company Kobo Products, a pigment and powder specialist, to 49%. The transaction, said Symrise, creates further opportunities for both companies in the fields of mineral UV filters and decorative cosmetics. Kobo customers are also expected to benefit from expanded capacities and global supply chains.
The US energy sector is on the verge of a mega merger: energy and petrochemical giant ExxonMobil has announced its intention to take over producer Pioneer Natural Resources. The merger is planned as an all-stock transaction valued at $59.5 billion, or $253 per share, based on ExxonMobil’s closing price on Oct. 5, 2023, according to a company statement. First reports about the ongoing negotiations already circulated last week.
Olon Biotech, a division of Italian API producer Olon, has inaugurated a new facility for the industrial-scale production of proteins from alternative sources at its site in Settimo, Italy. Olon pegged the investment in the new plant at €70 million.
GSK has struck a deal with Chongqing Zhifei Biological Products to promote the British group's shingles vaccine, Shingrix, in China for an initial three-year period. Starting on Jan.1, 2024, Zhifei will have exclusive rights to import and distribute Shingrix in China through its service network of more than 30,000 vaccination points across the country.
Farmabios, a company of the Axplora group founded in 2022, has received the cGMP approval from AIFA (national public body regulating medicines for human use in Italy) for the first line of its new production unit at Gropello Cairoli, Italy, expanding its large scale manufacturing capabilities for high potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) and steroids.
Bayer has opened a new cell therapy production plant in Berkeley, California, USA, for the production of of BlueRock Therapeutics’ bemdaneprocel (BRT-DA01), an investigational cell therapy currently in evaluation for treating Parkinson’s disease. BlueRock Therapeutics is a clinical-stage cell therapy company and a wholly owned, independently managed subsidiary of Bayer.
Malaysia’s leading integrated chemicals producer Petronas Chemicals Group Berhad (PCG), part of Petronas group, has reached the final investment decision (FID) to construct an advanced chemical recycling plant with a capacity of 33 kt/a. The plant, to be built in Pengerang, Johor, is the largest of its kind in Asia, said Petronas, and is expected to be operational in the first half of 2026.
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) announced that it will acquire Mirati Therapeutics for up to $5.8 billion. BMS is to pay $58.00 per share in cash, for a total equity value of $4.8 billion, diversifying its oncology business and adding drugs it hopes can help offset expected lost revenue from patent expirations later this decade.
Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza is extending a long-term collaboration with an unnamed major global biopharmaceutical partner. Under the agreement, the current dedicated bioconjugation capacity will be increased fourfold by adding two new bioconjugation suites for the commercial supply of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) at Lonza's site in Visp, Switzerland.
Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV is collaborating with British engineering and consulting group Wood for the worldwide commercial licensing of OMV’s proprietary ReOil technology. The agreement follows a respective Memorandum of Understanding, that was signed between the two companies last year.
Kensing, a manufacturer of natural vitamin E, plant sterols, and high-purity surfactants, announced the acquisition of Advanced Organic Materials (AOM), a producer of non-GMO plant-based vitamin E and phytosterols derived from sunflower and rapeseed.
Eli Lilly announced that it is acquiring radiopharmaceutical company Point Biopharma for $12.50 per share in cash, valuing the deal at approximately $1.4 billion. Point has pipeline of clinical and preclinical-stage radioligand therapies in development for the treatment of cancer. The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of both Indianapolis-based US companies.
Sanofi has entered into an agreement with Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, to develop and commercialize the vaccine candidate for extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (9-valent) developed by Janssen, a potential first-in-class product currently in Phase 3.
Contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) AmbioPharm has appointed industry veteran Brian Gregg as CEO. Gregg, who has more than 30 years of experience in the peptide CDMO industry, succeeds Tim Nieters, who will be stepping down after seven years with the company.
Aberdeen, Scotland-based energy infrastructure company Kellas Midstream, in collaboration with service providers Worley and Johnson Matthey, has begun front-end engineering design (FEED) for its H2NorthEast hydrogen project at Teesside, UK.
AI and analytics software company SAS is collaborating with global biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca to increase efficiency and drive automation in the delivery of statistical analyses for clinical and post-approval submissions to regulatory authorities.
