US-based Vertex Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $320 million in cash to acquire ViaCyte, a compatriot private cellular therapy company specializing in a treatment for type-1 diabetes (T1D). The transaction is expected to close later this year.
To further increase its capabilities in serving Life Science customers in Europe, STAXS is expanding its facility in Heerenveen, specifically designed for this customer segment and with carbon neutrality in mind.
Solvias, a Swiss CDMO serving the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, material science and cosmetic industries, has acquired Dutch biotech Cergentis for an undisclosed sum. The deal bolsters Solvias’ platform of biologics and cell and gene therapy (CGT) testing solutions.
Project Air, a production facility for sustainable methanol in Stenungsund, Sweden, described by the project’s partners Perstorp, Fortum and Uniper as “unique,” has been selected as one of 17 large-scale “green tech” projects that will share more than €1.8 billion in aid from the EU Innovation Fund.
W. R. Grace is expanding its fine chemicals contract development and manufacturing facility in South Haven, Michigan, USA. The project is scheduled for completion in January 2024.
Glyphosate and the former Monsanto’s herbicide Roundup have returned to the headlines following last month’s publication of a 2013-2014 study by the US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) that that found traces of the herbicide’s active ingredient in the majority of urine samples collected.
Japan’s Ube has selected an undisclosed location in the US state of Louisiana as the site for a planned dimethyl carbonate (DMC) and ethyl methyl carbonate (EMC) production facility.
It took longer than expected, but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on July 13 finally granted an Emergency Authorization (EUA) to Nuaxovid, the protein-based sCovid-19 shot developed by Novavax.
German biopharma Boehringer Ingelheim, compatriot CDMO Evotec and French diagnostics firm BioMérieux have formed a joint venture to develop a new approach to fight the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections.
Dutch paints and coatings group AkzoNobel has announced it will spend €20 million to increase and improve production at two of its sites in France, creating around 30 new jobs.
Fujifilm is preparing to invest $1.6 billion to ramp up the cell culture manufacturing services of its CDMO subsidiary Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies.
Shell is going ahead with plans to bring Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant on stream by 2025.
US conglomerate 3M has agreed with the Flemish government to spend more than €571 million on cleaning up PFAS-contamination at its site in Belgium. The Flemish government had ordered 3M to halt PFAS production at Zwijndrecht last October because of contamination levels.
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have ordered 3.2 million doses of Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine, even before the protein-based and adjuvanted shot has cleared the US Food and Drug Administration.
Brazilian oil group Petrobras has finalized the sale of its entire 27.88% stake in linear alkyl benzene (LAB) producer Deten Quimica to Spanish energy and petrochemicals group CEPSA Quimica for 514 million Brazilian reais.
In the wake of the US Supreme Court’s recent overturn of Roe v. Wade, a 50-year-old decision by an earlier team of justices that guarantees women the right terminate a pregnancy, attention has turned to the so-called morning-after pill mifepristone – which remains legal for now – and easier access to birth control.
A group of four financial institutions have gained full control of The Lycra Company after former owner Ruyi Textile and Fashion International Group defaulted on a $400 million loan associated with its purchase from Invista in January 2019.
While Europe still deliberates, and municipalities monitor sewage to pinpoint the further spread of coronavirus subvariants, especially those evolving from the omicron variant, the US Food and Drug Administration’s advisory panel has voted 19-2 to recommend that the government’s autumn vaccination program be based on the second generation mRNA vaccines developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.
Dutch biopolymer producer Avantium has won a new customer along the path to commercializing its renewable polyethylenefuranoate (PEF) as a replacement for fossil-fuel based PET, the material most used for plastic beverage bottles.
US-based agricultural sciences company FMC has entered into an agreement to buy BioPhero, a Danish pheromone research and production firm, for about $200 million.
Swiss CDMO Lonza plans to build a large-scale commercial fill & finish facility in Stein. The new facility, to be located on the same campus as Lonza’s existing clinical drug product capabilities, will cost roughly 500 million Swiss francs and should be completed in 2026.
The administration of US president Joe Biden is looking for ways to work around the Supreme Court’s recent landmark ruling that limits the Environmental Protection Agency’s role in regulating emissions of greenhouse gases.
AkzoNobel has agreed to buy the wheel liquid coatings business of Berlin-based Lankwitzer Lackfabrik for an undisclosed sum.
Leuna, Germany-based PA producer Domo Chemicals is teaming up with low-carbon hydrogen producer Hynamics, a wholly owned subsidiary of French energy group EDF, to produce sustainable polyamides from hydrogen, using output from the Belle-Étoile industrial site in Saint-Fons, France.
Germany’s BioNTech is pushing back against allegations by compatriot CureVac that the company infringed its intellectual property in formulating its mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, that it developed and marketed together with US drugs giant Pfizer.
German technology company Thyssenkrupp Nucera has won a contract to expand a caustic soda plant for India’s Kutch Chemical Industries. The contract’s value is in the low double-digit million-euro range.
US-based Koch Ag & Energy Solutions (KAES) has acquired a 50% stake in Jorf Fertilizers Company III (JFC III) from Moroccan phosphates and fertilizer giant OCP and at the same time established a 50:50 joint venture with OCP.
Polynt, an Italian manufacturer of chemical intermediates, is planning to build a new esterification plant to produce plasticizers – and mainly trimellitates – at its site in Atlacomulco, Mexico, in order to meet rising demand.
LyondellBasell (LYB) has pledged to cover at least 50% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2030.
Yara International has outlined an ambitious growth plan for its Clean Ammonia business, with “significant” investment decisions targeted over the next three years.
Two globally oriented drugmakers, Pfizer and Sanofi, are making moves that some may interpret as attempts to allay the pharma industry‘s reputation for being “only in it for the money” but could potentially benefit poorer countries if all goes to plan.
Arkema has closed its acquisition of South Africa’s Permoseal, a move designed to strengthen and complete the portfolio of its adhesives subsidiary Bostik.
Azelis is continuing its recent acquisition spree with agreements to buy two more companies in Lebanon and Turkey.
Trinseo and Dutch firm GMP Group are setting up a framework for an exclusive cooperation to further progress the circulatory of PS.
German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess has wrapped up its acquisition of International Flavors & Fragrances’s microbial control business unit, a year after announcing the $1.3 billion deal with the US company in August 2021.
