09.02.2022 • News
Lonza and HaemaLogiX Link on Cancer Drug
Lonza has agreed a manufacturing partnership with Australian biotech HaemaLogiX for the latter’s lead multiple myeloma drug candidate KappaMab.
News
09.02.2022 • News
Yara Contracts Linde for Hydrogen Demo Facility
Norwegian fertilizer producer Yara has signed a contract with Linde Engineering for the construction of a green hydrogen demonstration plant. The plant will be installed at the Heroya Industripark in Porsgrunn, Norway, and use Linde’s proton exchange membrane (PEM) technology.
09.02.2022 • News
Novavax and J&J with Vaccine Delivery Delays
As wealthy countries with ample supplies of Covid-19 vaccine struggle to convince more people to get the shot, and poorer countries struggle to nail down supplies, two US vaccine makers are making negative headlines. While EU and UK approval of the Novavax vaccine was just celebrated with fanfare, that company as well as Johnson & Johnson is now said to face delivery delays.
08.02.2022 • News
PPG Acquires Arsonsisi’s Powder Coatings Business
US paints and coatings group PPG has entered into an agreement to buy the powder coatings business of Italian company Arsonsisi, boosting its offering in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Arsonsisi’s powder coating sales reached about $15 million last year.
08.02.2022 • News
Clariant to Sell Scientific Design Stake to SABIC
Clariant has signed definitive agreements to divest its 50% stake in the joint venture that owns Scientific Design Company to its long-term joint venture partner, SABIC. The Saudi group will execute a call option raised in 2015 to acquire the stake in the business bought by Germany’s Süd-Chemie in 2003 prior to its acquisition by Clariant.
08.02.2022 • News
Germany’s Merck Restructures Life Science Segment
German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences group Merck has restructured its life science business to promote growth and to better cater to the needs of an evolving global customer base. From Apr. 1, there will be four new units supporting the segment’s operating model.
UK Biotechs Broke Investment Records in 2021
Investment in UK biotech and life science companies scored a lifetime high in 2021, according to new data from the BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Clarivate.
07.02.2022 • News
Solvay Lifts European PVDF Capacity for EV Batteries
Reacting to the comet-like rise in demand for lithium oxide batteries used as separators and cathode binders in electric and hybrid vehicles, Solvay is expanding production of its Solef-branded polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) at its site in Tavaux, France.
07.02.2022 • News
ExxonMobil Restructures, Relocates to Houston
ExxonMobil is restructuring its organization into three business lines and relocating its corporate headquarters from Irving, Texas to Houston by mid-2023 in a move the energy and chemicals giant said would better support customers, enhance performance and grow value.
07.02.2022 • News
EuroChem Negotiating with Borealis for Nitrogen Assets
EuroChem, a Russian-owned fertilizer producer headquartered in Zug, Switzerland, has entered into exclusive negotiations to buy Borealis’s nitrogen business, making a binding offer of €455 million. The deal could complete in the second half of 2022.
04.02.2022 • News
Samsung Biologics to Take Control of Bioepis JV
Samsung Biologics has agreed to buy out partner Biogen’s share of their Samsung Bioepis joint venture for up to $2.3 billion. The South Korean group said the deal will accelerate growth in biosimilars and novel therapeutics R&D.
04.02.2022 • News
Hexion Holdings Completes Epoxy Sale to Westlake
Hexion Holdings has completed the sale of its epoxy-based coatings and composites portfolio to Westlake Chemical for $1.2 billion. The deal comprises the epoxy specialty resins and base epoxy resins and intermediates product lines. Prior to the sale, Hexion had announced it would split into two independent companies.
04.02.2022 • News
UK Gives the Final OK for Novavax Covid Shot
February kicked off with a major publicity coup for US vaccine maker Novavax, based in the state of Maryland. Its Covid-19 vaccine was granted conditional marketing authorization in the UK, Germany’s vaccine advisory panel recommended its use and the company officially filed with the FDA for emergency use authorization.
03.02.2022 • News
Sibur Selects Technip Energies as 1-Hexene Licensor
Russian petrochemicals giant Sibur has chosen French engineering company Technip Energies as the licensor of its 1-hexene technology, known as Hexsib. The technology was developed by NIOST, one of Sibur’s main R&D centers.
03.02.2022 • News
H.B. Fuller Boosts Adhesives with Apollo Buy
US adhesives maker H.B. Fuller has purchased Apollo, the UK’s largest independent manufacturer of liquid adhesives, coatings and primers for the commercial roofing, industrial and construction markets.
03.02.2022 • News
Wacker’s Siltronic Deal with GlobalWafers Off
With Germany’s foreign trade clearance still missing on the deal’s agreed Jan. 31 closing date, Munich-based Wacker Chemie declared its plans to sell its remaining 30.8% stake in silicon wafers manufacturer Siltronic to Taiwan’s GlobalWafers officially dead. For now, at least.
02.02.2022 • News
Exxon-SABIC JV Starts up new Texas Petchem Site
ExxonMobil and SABIC have brought on stream what they tout as the world’s largest ethane cracker. The facility at Portland, Texas, which is operated by the companies’ Gulf Coast Growth Ventures (GCGV), has capacity to produce 1.8 million t/y of ethylene.
02.02.2022 • News
Akhil Ravi Named CEO of Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services
Dr. Reddy's has appointed Akhil Ravi as CEO for its wholly-owned subsidiary Aurigene Pharmaceutical Services effective Feb. 1, 2022.
02.02.2022 • News
Ineos Styrolution Sells StyLight Business to Ensinger
Ineos Styrolution has sold its StyLight thermoplastic composite materials business to German family-owned firm Ensinger for an undisclosed sum.
02.02.2022 • News
Private Equity Buyers Seen as Circling Sandoz
US private equity firms Blackstone and Carlyle may make a joint offer for the Novartis generics unit Sandoz, Bloomberg reports. With six other possible bidders seen as circling Basel-based Sandoz, the news agency’s sources said this sale could shape up to be one of the biggest-ever buyout deals, valued at around $25 billion.
01.02.2022 • News
SABIC Boosts African Agri-nutrients Presence with ETG Stake
SABIC Agri-Nutrients has agreed to acquire a 49% stake in ETG Inputs Holdco for an enterprise value of $320 million. ETG Inputs Holdco blends and distributes fertilizers, seeds and crop protection products across Africa from its more than 350 distribution centers.
01.02.2022 • News
BASF Expands Enzymes Output
BASF has expanded its feed enzymes capacity at Ludwigshafen, Germany, to meet growing global demand for its Natuphos E, Nutugrain TS and Natupulse TS products. The German group said feed enzymes have become indispensable for improving efficiency and sustainability in animal protein production.
01.02.2022 • News
Lanxess and DSM to Merge Plastics under Private Equity?
Lanxess and private equity investor Advent International are reportedly discussing a transaction that could see the German company’s engineering plastics portfolios merge with the polymer-related activities being flogged off by DSM in the Netherlands. The resulting new entity would likely be controlled by Advent.
31.01.2022 • News
Evotec Partners on Metabolic and Eye Diseases
German drug discovery and development company Evotec has entered into two separate collaborations with major pharma firms during January.
31.01.2022 • News
Ib Jensen Appointed as CFO of Perstorp
Perstorp has appointed Ib Jensen as new CFO, effective Feb. 1, 2022. He takes over the CFO role from Ulf Berghult, who will leave Perstorp in April.
31.01.2022 • News
Sterling Pharma Solutions to Expand US Plant
Sterling Pharma Solutions, a globally active CDMO based in Birmingham, England, has kicked off a $2.1 million expansion project to increase chemical and analytical capabilities at its facility at Cary, North Carolina, in the heart of the US state’s Research Triangle. The work is scheduled to be completed by the end of this year, allowing the recruitment of up to 20 additional scientists, the company said.
31.01.2022 • News
Arkema to Produce even more PVDF at Changshu
Citing strong demand for lithium-ion batteries, as well as from other important markets, Arkema said it is now planning to increase its fluoropolymer capacity at Changshu, China by 50%, rather than 35% as announced earlier. The expected start-up date at the end of 2022 remains unchanged.
28.01.2022 • News
Catalent Completes UK and US Expansions
CDMO Catalent has completed a $10 million project to install large-scale isolator units at its sites in Dartford, UK, and Malvern, Pennsylvania, USA. The facilities will provide advanced containment capabilities for the micronization of highly potent drug compounds.
28.01.2022 • News
Fertiglobe Collaborates on Green Hydrogen in UAE
Fertiglobe, the joint venture formed between Dutch fertilizer and industrial chemicals group OCI and the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in October 2019, has signed a deal to collaborate with renewable energy companies Masdar and ENGIE to develop a green hydrogen facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
28.01.2022 • News
Aramco and SABIC Explore Global Projects
Saudi Aramco has set its sights on becoming a global player in a number of petrochemical and energy fields. As one of its biggest projects, the world-leading oil producer recently announced plans to invest in the Polish chemicals sector. Together with its 70% subsidiary SABIC, it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Plock-based PKN Orlen to explore possibilities for cooperation.
27.01.2022 • News
Hikma Buys Teligent’s Canadian Assets
The UK’s Hikma Pharmaceuticals has agreed to pay $45.75 million for the Canadian business of Teligent, a US generic drugmaker that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in October 2021 and initiated a sale of its core assets. The deal is expected to close before the end of the first quarter of 2022.
27.01.2022 • News
Aceto Consolidates Six Acquisitions
Aceto, a US-based manufacturer of specialty materials for life sciences and advanced technology end markets, has consolidated and integrated six recent acquisitions with an eye to developing its hybrid manufacturing/distribution model to supply high-growth end markets.
27.01.2022 • News
Pfizer and BioNTech to Start Omicron Trials
Pfizer and BioNTech are poised to begin their first clinical trial with a new vaccine candidate adapted to offer protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The study with 1,420 healthy adults aged 18 through 55 that will include some of the participants from the companies’ Phase 3 booster study is aimed at determining the potential need for variant-based vaccines.
26.01.2022 • News
ExxonMobil Takes Stake in Norwegian Biofuels Business
US multinational energy company ExxonMobil has bought a 49.9% stake in Biojet, a Norwegian biofuels company that plans to convert forestry and wood-based construction waste into biofuels and biofuel components. Financial terms were not disclosed.
26.01.2022 • News
Arkema Widening Specialty Elastomers in France
Arkema is lifting global capacity for its Pebax elastomers at its plant in Serquigny, France. The specialty chemicals manufacturer said the investment will benefit both the bio-circular Pebax Rnew and the traditional Pebax ranges. The expansion will be in place by mid-2023.
