As had been widely expected, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Aug. 31 granted emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to the new Covid-19 shots developed by mRNA vaccine makers Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna.
US chemical producer Ashland is expanding its production and R&D site at the National Science Park in Mullingar, Ireland, which makes its Viatel-branded bioresorbable polymer. The upgrade, begun this summer, is expected to complete in 2024.
Storage operator Advario, a wholly owned subsidiary of Oiltanking, has joined forces with Belgian gas transmission company Fluxys to study the feasibility of building an open-access green ammonia import terminal at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
Following a strategic review, US specialty chemicals company Albemarle is retaining its catalysts division, having decided that the best value is to hold the business as a separate, wholly owned subsidiary.
Germany’s LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme has completed the acquisition of St. Paul, Minnesota-headquartered CDMO Tapemark, a US specialist in transdermal drug delivery systems, oral thin films and unit dose semi-solid drug and iontophoresis products.
Indian multinational conglomerate Reliance Industries plans to invest 750 billion rupees – roughly $9.4 billion – to expand its oil-to-chemicals business over the next five years. Investments will be focused on polyesters, vinyls and carbon fiber.
German engineering plastics producer Covestro is buiilding its first dedicated line for mechanical recycling (MCR) of polycarbonates at its integrated site in Shanghai, China. The new 25,000 t/y facility, which will cost €27 million, is planned to start up in 2023.
BioNTech and Pfizer are facing another lawsuit claiming that their Comirnaty-branded Covid-19 vaccine infringes another company’s patent. The latest to sue is US rival Moderna, which claims the German-American duo copied the original mRNA technology it used for its first-generation shot Spikevax.
German CDMO Evotec is to acquire compatriot company Central Glass Germany from Japanese owner Central Glass for a nominal price of €1. The transaction, which remains subject to the usual closing conditions, is expected to complete on Nov. 1.
US licensing group Lummus Technology has won two contracts from China’s Fujian Eversun New Material to supply its Catofin technology for a 900,000 t/y propane dehydrogenation (PDH) unit and its Novolen process for an 800,000 t/y PP plant in Fujian province.
Ineos Phenol is paying $330 million to acquire Mitsui Phenols Singapore. With the deal, expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to regulatory approval, it will add 1 million tonnes of annual capacity to its production volume. The business had sales of $750 million in 2021 and 120 employees, all of whom will transfer to the new owner.
European private equity group Investindustrial — through subsidiary PVC Europe — has agreed a sale of PVC compounder Benvic to International Chemical Investors Group (ICIG). However, it expects to retain Benvic’s medical activities in Italy.
Novartis has finally confirmed definite plans to spin off its generic drugs arm Sandoz.
Vietnam is on its way to becoming a major Asian player in petrochemicals and plastics. Up to now, the country has lagged regional peers such as China or Malaysia in bringing new production facilities on stream, but this is slowly changing.
IMCD has agreed to buy PromaPlast, a distributor of advanced materials serving markets in Mexico and the US. Terms of the transaction, which is expected to close in September, were not disclosed.
Swiss specialty chemicals company Arxada said it will invest 20 million Swiss francs to expand production at its Visp site following the extension of a long-term supply partnership with DSM.
PPG has announced separate projects in Mexico and the US to expand capacity for powder coatings and adhesives and sealants respectively.
Borealis has announced it will retender the majority of contracts for its PDH plant under construction at Kallo, Belgium, after slashing all ties with Italian-French joint venture IREM, a contractor based at Siracusa in Italy.
To meet surging global demand for its Jynneos-branded monkeypox vaccine, Danish biotech Bavarian Nordic (BN) is pulling out all stops. Strategies include outsourcing production of other vaccines to CDMOs and exploring the reuse of millions of doses that have technically expired but are still viable.
After establishing its first-to-market laboratory for process development in India, ACG, an integrated solutions provider for pharmaceutical companies, now plans to launch a sister process lab in Germany in 2023.
Chinese contract research, development and manufacturing organization WuXi STA, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, has broken ground on a new pharmaceutical campus in Middletown, Delaware, USA.
Brenntag has acquired Prime Surfactants in the UK for an undisclosed sum. Headquartered in Leeds, the company is a leading distributor of surfactant specialties for the personal care and household, industrial & institutional (HI&I) industries, among other segments, in the UK.
American Chemistry Council (ACC), the industry association representing US chemical producers, is suing the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over its Lifetime Health Advisories (LHAs) for per-fluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl chemicals (PFAS).
CureVac and GSK have announced they are launching a Phase 1 clinical trial with their modified mRNA-based Covid 19 vaccine CV051, which would be recommended as a booster to protect against the omicron variant.
Under the name ForGround, Bayer is rolling out a US digital farming platform designed to help US growers use environmentally friendly practices and connect them with companies seeking more sustainable food, feed and biofuel ingredients.
Danish shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk has signed a Letter of Intent with Chinese bioenergy enterprise Debo to take the full output of its proposed green methanol plant.
Just as the outlook for gas supply to Germany appeared somewhat brighter, at the end of last week Russian gas giant Gazprom announced it would shut down the pipeline NordStream 1 from Aug. 31 to Sept. 2 to carry out repairs.
Azelis has agreed to buy Turkish specialty chemicals distributor Dağalti Kauçuk San, marking its third acquisition in the country so far this year.
British engineering and consulting group Wood has won two contracts from Uzbek contractor Enter Engineering for projects in the Central Asian country. The contracts together are worth more than $200 million.
Evonik is expanding production capacity for its Acematt-branded matting agents at its site in Taiwan.
Germany’s Bayer has hired US lobby firm Williams & Jensen to aid its campaign for continued access to contraceptives.
US energy technology company Baker Hughes has opened a new oilfield services chemicals manufacturing facility in Singapore, boosting its local capabilities and expanding its presence in Asia.
Rentschler Biopharma has appointed Mark Caswell as Vice President and Site Head. He joined Rentschler in July 2022 and is managing all operations at the company’s US facilities in Milford, MA.
German chemicals, pharmaceuticals and life science group Merck has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the chemical business of Mecaro, a manufacturer of heater blocks for heating wafers in the semiconductor process or glasses in the LCD (liquid crystal display) process, along with chemical precursors for semiconductors.
Italian contractor Eurotecnica has won a contract from China’s Xinji Energy Chemical to build a high-pressure melamine plant.
