Air Liquide and Dow renewed their industrial gas supply agreement for Dow’s chemical production site in Stade, Germany. Under the long-term agreement, Air Liquide will supply industrial gases and invest almost €40 million in modernizing its facilities to increase operational efficiency and reduce CO₂ emissions.
South Korean chemicals group LG Chem has secured a long-term cathode material supply contract with General Motors (GM), worth KRW 25 trillion (about $19 billion). LG Chem intends to use its US cathode plant in Tennessee as a production center for the global battery materials market.
In a move to launch its cell therapy platforms for critical cancer trials in the US, AstraZeneca is investing $300 million in a new facility in Rockville, Maryland. The site will initially focus on the production of T-cell therapies, with the possibility of supporting other disease areas in the future.
Novo Holdings, Novo Nordisk's parent company, is acquiring US contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Catalent for $16.5 billion. The companies said that Novo Holdings will acquire all outstanding shares of Catalent for $63.50 per share in cash.
Brenntag announced the agreement to acquire a chemical logistics site of Chimica D’Agostino in Italy. The site is located in the industrial area of the city of Bari, well connected with Adriatic highway, and with easy access to harbours on the seaside.
Swiss explorer Bertrand Piccard has revealed his latest project: an emission-free airplane powered by green hydrogen. The aircraft aims to achieve a non-stop flight around the Earth, showcasing practical solutions for a cleaner and more efficient world. Partnering with Syensqo, this technological and environmental adventure will push the boundaries of innovation. The airplane is being developed in France by engineer and navigator Raphaël Dinelli.
MSD Animal Health, a division of Merck & Co., announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the aqua business of Elanco Animal Health Incorporated for €1.2 billion ($1.3 billion) in cash. The acquisition is expected to be completed by mid-year 2024, subject to approvals from regulatory authorities and other customary closing conditions.
Siegfried has appointed Marianne Späne, currently chief business officer Drug Products, as chief business officer with responsibility for both the Drug Substances and Drug Products divisions of the Swiss contract manufacturing and development organization (CDMO), effective Feb. 1, 2024. Christian Dowdeswell, who previously led the Drug Substance business, has decided to leave Siegfried.
Israeli generics manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals intends to divest its active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) business, Teva API (TAPI). A standalone business unit of Teva, TAPI supplies APIs to over 1,000 customers worldwide and has approximately 4,300 employees worldwide.
Arkema has increased its global manufacturing capacity for Pebax elastomers by 40% at its Serquigny plant in France, which is utilized in particular in the sports and consumer goods markets.
Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV has signed an agreement to divest its 50% stake in Malaysia’s natural gas producer SapuraOMV Upstream to TotalEnergies for $903 million, including the transfer of a $350 million loan granted by OMV to SapuraOMV.
Veranova has appointed Chris Holmes as the company’s first vice president, Global Engineering. He will lead Veranova’s global engineering team in the planning, design, and execution of the company’s capital investment initiatives and lead strategic capital projects.
IMCD has appointed Natasha De Lange as managing director for South Africa, effective Feb. 1, 2024. She will be replacing Ryan Harrison, who will become managing director of Australia and New Zealand.
Swiss contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) Lonza will collaborate with Oxford Nanopore Technologies, a UK-based company delivering a new generation of nanopore-based molecular sensing technology. The collaboration aims to cGMP validate and commercialize a first-of-its-kind novel test to accurately determine multiple critical quality attributes of mRNA products by directly sequencing both the DNA template and the messenger RNA (mRNA).
Last week, AbbVie broke ground on a new Singapore manufacturing facility located in Singapore's Tuas Biomedical Park. The company will invest $223 million in the site which will add 24,000 l of biologics drug-substance capacity to AbbVie's global manufacturing network and support current products as well as emerging immunology and oncology compounds within its pipeline.
Hungary-headquartered specialty pharmaceutical company Gedeon Richter becomes a strategic investor of German biosimilars company Formycon via cash capital increase of 9.08% of Formycon’s share capital, which corresponds to €82.84 million.
German chemicals, pharmaceuticals and life sciences group Merck has opened a digital hub in Singapore, the first outside of the US and Europe for its digital business.
Olon Group is building a state-of-the-art High Potency Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (HPAPI) suite at its Olon USA site in Concord, Ohio. This expands the company's capabilities for handling HPAPI, with investments totaling around €40 million ($43 million) in recent years.
Dutch ingredients producer Corbion has agreed to divest its emulsifier business to US private equity firm Kingswood Capital Management for $362 million. The transaction, which is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, is contingent upon the satisfaction of certain conditions, including regulatory approvals.
Active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer EuroAPI has started a collaboration with Basel, Switzerland-headquartered SpiroChem, a contract research organization (CRO) which specializes in early chemical process R&D (route scouting).
In a move to meet the rising demand from the photovoltaic industry, Solvay is expanding the is hydrogen peroxide capacity of its Shandong Huatai Interox Chemical site in China, a joint venture (JV) with Huatai Chemical.
SGD Pharma announced the opening of a new siliconization operation at its Saint-Quentin Lamotte (SQLM) plant. The company enhances its range of in-house services by internalizing its glass siliconization offer, ensuring increased responsiveness, security of supply and improved flexibility of vial sizes.
Leading Indian carbon black player Birla Carbon announced to establish two new carbon black manufacturing sites in Naidupet, Andhra Pradesh, India, and Rayong, Thailand.
The Kenyan start-up Molepse BioResources has developed two products, one for small-scale and one for large-scale grain farmers, to protect their harvest from weevil attacks.
Syensqo Ventures, the group’s venture capital fund, participated in the €1.9 million ($2.1 million) financing round for Bioeutectics, alongside Fen Ventures, Atento Capital, and SOSV (IndieBio).
Sanofi agreed to acquire biopharmaceutical company Inhibrx following the spin-off of non-INBRX-101 assets into New Inhibrx for approximately $1.7 billion and will also retain an 8% equity stake in New Inhibrx. Sanofi said that it expects to finance the transaction with available cash resources.
BP has appointed Murray Auchincloss as its permanent CEO, effective immediately. He has been interim CEO since September 2023 after the sudden resignation of his predecessor Bernard Looney.
German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim is investing €120 million in an upgrade and expansion of its facility in Koropi, Greece, that will increase the company's capacity to produce existing and new medicines. Main disease areas, Boehringer said, include cardio-renal-metabolic (CRM) diseases, mental health, and pulmonary fibrosis.
LyondellBasell (LYB) has agreed to acquire a 35% stake in Saudi Arabia-based National Petrochemical Industrial Company (Natpet) from Alujain for approximately $500 million. Closing of the transaction is subject to regulatory and other customary closing conditions.
Italian specialty additives manufacturer Italmatch Chemicals agreed to purchase the majority of shares of Alcolina, a Brazilian chemicals company specialized in water treatment for bioethanol, sugar production and industrial applications. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.
Following its long-term goal of extracting itself from a challenging operating environment in the Niger Delta, Shell agreed to sell its Nigerian onshore subsidiary Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) to Renaissance, a consortium of five companies comprising four exploration and production companies based in Nigeria and an international energy group, for $1.3 billion.
International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) has appointed J. Erik Fyrwald as next CEO and member of the company’s board of directors, effective Feb. 6, 2024. He will succeed Frank Clyburn, who will remain with the IFF until the end of March and will continue to work in an advisory capacity until December 2024.
China-headquartered contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) WuXi Biologics plans to increase the manufacturing capacity of its US facility in Worcester, Massachusetts to 36,000 l, 12,000 l more than the originally planned 24,000 l.
Solenis to invest €176 million ($193 million) in City of Suffolk facility expansion. The company will build a new 7430-square-meter (80,000-square-foot) production facility, packaging facility, and tank farm. This new facility will be used to grow the existing polymer product line and add additional capacity of this critical monomer to the existing supplier.
French chemical producer Arkema announced that it will become a shareholder of Tiamat, a start-up that designs, develops, industrializes and markets sodium-ion batteries, a new lithium-free technology. Tiamat was spun off from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) in 2017.
