Macfarlan Smith, a UK-based unit of US API maker Veranova, formerly known as Johnson Matthey Health, has completed a $10 million expansion of its mid-scale active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) manufacturing capabilities in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Masdar, a clean energy company based in Abu Dhabi, and Austria’s leading energy utility Verbund have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop pathways for producing and exporting green hydrogen to Central Europe, specifically Austria and southern Germany.
Lotte Biologics, part of South Korean conglomerate Lotte, has detailed expansions plans for the business as it embarks on a path to become a top 10 CDMO by 2030.
The year 2023 has started on a busy note for Linde’s plant engineering arm. For starters, Norwegian energy group Equinor has awarded the company a Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) contract for its H2H (Hydrogen to Humber) project in northeast England.
Bowing to growing pressure from activist investors with different missions, the supervisory board of tradition-steeped German pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals player Bayer has announced the appointment of a new CEO to succeed embattled incumbent Werner Baumann — a year before the end of the current chief executive’s regular term.
Lotte Chemical, part of South Korean conglomerate Lotte, has formed a strategic alliance with Japan’s Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) to jointly develop stable large-scale green and blue “clean ammonia” supply chains in Asia, Europe and the US.
Solenis, a US producer of specialty chemicals for water-intensive industries, has closed its acquisition of Peru’s Grand Invest. The Wilmington, Delaware-headquartered company said the purchase aligns with its direct go-to-market strategy to provide customers in the region with improved chemical and water treatment products and services.
Across the US and Europe, health and environment NGOs are putting pressure on national authorities to curb contamination from poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS), the hard-to-decompose “forever chemicals” used to make semiconductors, batteries, aircrafts, cars, medical equipment or coat frying pans and skis.
NextChem, a subsidiary of Italian engineering contractor Maire Tecnimont, has agreed to acquire, scale up and commercialize Biorenova’s proprietary CatC continuous chemical recycling technology through a joint venture.
Univar has acquired ChemSol, a leading ingredients and specialty chemicals distributor operating in Costa Rica, Guatemala, El Salvador, Panama, and Honduras. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Lotte Ineos Chemical, a joint venture of South Korea’s Lotte Chemical and UK-managed Ineos, has announced plans to increase overall production capacity for vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) to 700,000 t/y from 450,000 t/y currently.
UK specialty chemicals company Croda International has agreed to buy Solus Biotech, a South Korean company specializing in ceramide and phospholipid technologies and with emerging capabilities in natural retinol. The purchase price is about £232 million on a debt-free, cash-free basis.
Amgen’s proposed acquisition of Horizon Therapeutics for $28.7 billion, including debt, would be the largest healthcare deal since AstraZeneca’s $39 billion purchase of Alexion in 2021, if it goes ahead. As such, it is under intense scrutiny.
Repsol has announced plans to install a new production line for recycled plastics at its site in Puertollano, Spain. The new line, with capacity of 25,000 t/y, will go into operation at the end of 2024, almost doubling existing output of 16,000 t/y.
TotalEnergies is selling half of its portfolio of renewable projects to French insurance specialist Crédit Agricole Assurances. The transaction, which implies an enterprise value of $300 million, includes 23 solar power plants and six wind farms, of which 25 are already operational and four are due to be commissioned in the first half of this year.
Dutch specialty chemicals producer Nouryon is expanding its Application Development Centers in Deventer, the Netherlands, and at Chattanooga in the US state of Tennessee to offer advanced technical service capabilities dedicated to cleaning in Europe and North America.
Inovyn, PVC-producing subsidiary of Ineos, has inked two long-term power supply deals with Norway’s Statkraft, which claims to be Europe’s largest renewables producer. From May, Inovyn will draw 100 MW of exclusively renewable energy from Statkraft for an annual renewable energy production of 876 GWh per year and an additional 30 MW (263 GWh) from 2026.
The International Chemical Secretariat (ChemSec), a Swedish NGO that advocates for reducing the production and use of hazardous chemicals, has added 370 new per- or poly-fluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) — also known as “forever chemicals” — to its Substitute It Now (SIN) List.
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a $5.4 million historic settlement with chemical giant Dow to cover its dioxin pollution cleanup efforts resulting from the company’s contamination of waterways dating back to the 19th century.
Saudi Arabian Mining Company (Ma’aden) has awarded a contract to Worley and JESA International for the provision of engineering, procurement, and construction management services on the first phase of its Phosphate 3 project.
Valent BioSciences, a US-based subsidiary of Japan’s Sumitomo Chemical, has acquired FBSciences, a Tennessee-based company specializing in biostimulants. Financial terms were not disclosed.
The governments of Australia and the Netherlands have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to develop a renewable hydrogen supply chain stretching from Australia to Europe, via the Port of Rotterdam.
A US federal appeals court panel has unanimously dismissed an attempt by Johnson & Johnson to use a controversial procedure that could resolve claims from lawsuits claiming the healthcare group’s talc-based baby powder caused their cancer.
To support the transition to electric vehicles, US-based Cabot Corporation plans to add capacity for conductive carbon additives (CCA) at its plant in Pampa, Texas. The company said the $75-90 million investment, which will add 15,000 t/y, is part of a five-year $200 million drive to expand its domestic output of the lithium-ion battery components.
German biotech CureVac has released preliminary data from its ongoing cooperation with UK drugmaker GSK on a new class of “transformative medicines” based on messenger mRNA.
French greentech firm Afyren will build a second bio-based organic acids plant, this time in Thailand, adding to a first facility in France. Marking its first international project, the new plant will be undertaken in partnership with Mitr Phol, which regards itself as the world’s third-largest sugar producer.
Sanner, a German manufacturer of pharmaceutical primary packaging and medical technology products, is expanding capacity. The company broke ground in January on a new production site and headquarters in Bensheim, as well as on a second manufacturing facility in Kunshan, China, that is due to start up this summer.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has begun reviewing its marketing authorization for Novartis’ Adakveo, a medicine to prevent vaso-occlusive pain crises in patients with sickle cell disease.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has asked a US federal judge to hold “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli in contempt for forming another drug company that it said violates a January 2022 court order that banned him from working in the pharmaceutical industry
Colorcon, a US-based globally active manufacturer of pharmaceutical film coatings and specialty excipients, has signed a Put agreement to purchase Airnov Healthcare Packaging from compatriot private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners.
Kazakh fertilizer producer Kazazot has chosen Spanish contractor Tecnicas Reunidas to build a new complex in Aktau, Mangistau Oblast, in the southwest of the country.
Sasol has signed two separate agreements for the supply of renewable energy to its sites in Sasolburg and Secunda in South Africa.
Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceuticals subsidiary Janssen is walking away from plans to launch an HIV vaccine in the immediate future after the data safety monitoring board for its latest Phase 3 trial found that the shot was no better than a placebo.
Green energy company HH2E is planning to develop a second large-scale green hydrogen plant in Germany, as it embarks on its ambition to become one of the largest producers in Europe.
Is the grass really always greener on the other side? Scarcely heard up to now above the din European chemical companies have been making about being disadvantaged by the US Inflation Reduction Act, which subsidizes “green investment” by American companies, their US competitors are making noises of their own.
