Shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk has entered into strategic partnerships with six companies with the aim of sourcing at least 730,000 t/y of green methanol by the end of 2025. The companies are China’s CIMC Enric and Green Technology Bank (GTB), Danish companies European Energy and Orsted, Swiss methanol producer Proman and US start-up WasteFuel.
Viatris, the new US pharma created in the 2020 merger of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn off-patent franchise, is selling its biosimilars portfolio to Biocon Biologics for up to $3.35 billion. Terms of the deal foresee Biocon paying $2 billion upfront, $1 billion in convertible preferred equity and $335 million in additional payments.
Johnson Matthey has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with 8 Rivers Capital to commercialize the latter’s clean hydrogen process, known as 8RH2. The collaboration will combine Johnson Matthey’s low-carbon hydrogen (LCH) production process with 8 Rivers’ carbon capture technology.
Sanofi has agreed a €300 million collaboration with private equity investor Blackstone Life Sciences (BXLS) to advance its innovative treatment for multiple myeloma (MM) Sarclisa (isatuximab). The French drugmaker said it will continue to fully manage the clinical program and retain full rights and control of the treatment.
Belgian chemical producer Solvay is exploring options to split into two publicly listed companies, for planning purposes to be called EssentialCo and SpecialtyCo. If all goes as expected, the spinoffs will take effect in the second half of 2023.
Saudi Aramco has taken a final investment decision to participate in developing a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Panjin, Liaoning province, northeastern China. Huajin Aramco Petrochemical Company (HAPCO), a joint venture between Aramco, North Huajin Chemical Industries Group Corporation and Panjin Xincheng Industrial Group that was established in December 2019, will develop the liquids-to-chemicals complex.
South African energy and chemical company Sasol has sold German subsidiary Sasol Wax to Awax, an Italian specialist in developing, producing and distributing wax products. The transaction excludes the South African Fischer-Tropsch hard wax business, which also includes the part that is managed by Sasol Wax.
Climate change poses a threat to nearly a third of the hazardous chemical facilities in US, a new analysis by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) says. The federal agency, tasked with assessing facilities at risk from rising sea levels, hurricane-like storm surges, wildfires or heavy rains found that 31% are located in areas prone to such natural hazards that may be worsened by climate change.
US biobased chemical company DMC Biotechnologies has appointed Kelly Smith as Vice President R&D. Previously, she was head of bioprocessing and formulation development at Joyn Bio.
LanzaTech is entering the public market by merging with special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) AMCI Acquisition Corp. II. The transaction, which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2022, will make it the first carbon capture and transformation company to access the public capital markets, LanzaTech said.
Moderna has announced it will begin conducting human trials for vaccines against 15 threatening viruses and other pathogens by 2025 as part of a global public health strategy that would allow it, as well as others through licenses, to quickly respond to a future pandemic.
AkzoNobel has opened a new £10 million global research and development center at its Slough site in the UK. The Amsterdam-based paints and coatings giant said the new facility employing 20 specialists will act as a major hub within its R&D network and help to further advance its innovation capabilities, especially for decorative paints.
Italian police have seized a yacht owned by Andrey Melnichenko, owner of leading European fertilizer producer EuroChem, days after the Russian billionaire was hit with EU sanctions related to the invasion of Ukraine, and the deal to acquire the Borealis nitrogen assets collapsed.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and leading methanol producer Proman have signed an agreement to develop the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) first world-scale methanol plant. The facility will be located at the Ta’ziz Industrial Chemicals Zone in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi, and capable of producing up to 1.8 million t/y.
US multinational gases group Air Products has announced plans to build, own and operate a green liquid hydrogen plant in Casa Grande, Arizona, USA. The zero-carbon facility, which will have capacity of 10 t per day, is expected to go on stream in 2023. It will also include a terminal for distributing the gas to the mobility market in California and other locations.
Another European chemicals deal has been torpedoed by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Borealis has announced it will not go ahead with plans to sell its nitrogen business, including fertilizer, melamine and technical nitrogen products, to Russian-owned, Swiss-based fertilizer producer EuroChem.
LanzaTech and carbon technology firm Twelve have created ethanol from CO2 emissions as part of an ongoing research and development partnership. The process uses Twelve’s carbon transformation technology and LanzaTech’s small continuous stirred tank reactor in an approach that the companies said is highly scalable to industrial quantities, while simultaneously eliminating CO2 emissions.
Swiss CDMO Lonza has completed a planned laboratory expansion at its active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) manufacturing site at Nansha, China and plans to begin operation on Mar. 22.
Private equity investor Cinven is poised to acquire Bayer’s Environmental Science Professional (ESP) unit, Bloomberg has reported. The news agency’s sources said the buyer of the business put up for sale a year ago was expected to be announced in the early part of March this year.
The founder and CEO of Ukrainian contract research organization (CRO) Enamine, Andrey Tomalchov, has won global attention with his appeal to the life science industry to support the country’s pharmaceutical research in a time of crisis.
US oilfield products and services supplier Halliburton has opened a chemicals plant at the PlasChem Park in Saudi Arabia. The Halliburton Chemical Reaction Plant – said to be the first of its kind in the Kingdom – will manufacture a broad range of chemicals for the oil and gas value chain, as well as many other industries.
US biopharma AbbVie is to take over Belgian biotech Syndesi Therapeutics, in a move that will expand its neuroscience portfolio. Under the agreed terms, AbbVie will pay Syndesi shareholders an upfront sum of $130 million, with potential additional payments of up to $870 million contingent on achieving certain milestones.
US specialty materials manufacturer Aceto has acquired Biotron Laboratories and affiliate Talus Mineral, expanding its nutraceuticals business and strengthening its life sciences footprint. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Two German biotechs, RNA vaccines specialist BioNTech and Medigene, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company focusing on the development of T cell immunotherapies, have entered a three-year multi-target research collaboration to develop T cell receptor (TCR) based immunotherapies against cancer.
After two years of relative quiet on the drilling front between the market glut and the coronavirus pandemic, US interest in shale is picking up again as energy prices soar in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Dutch multinational specialty chemicals and ingredients distributor IMCD has acquired Evonlode Foods in the UK. Based in Oxford, Evonlode’s activities are mostly in the beverage, bakery, nutrition, savory and dessert markets, serving customers in manufacturing, retail and foodservice.
Major US-based multinational energy company Chevron has agreed to buy Renewable Energy Group (REG) in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.15 billion. Both companies’ boards of directors have approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second half of 2022. REG shareholders have yet to give their approval.
Under pressure from economic sanctions imposed on Russian assets by Europe and the US after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Wintershall Dea, the German oil and gas producer owned to 67% by BASF said it will write off its €1.1 billion financing of the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project and will not pursue any new projects in Russia.
IDT Biologika, a German CDMO specialized in vaccines, gene and immune therapy and oncolytic viruses, is collaborating with Belgian CDMO Exothera on developing a large-scale manufacturing process for viral vector-based vaccines. The two firms are currently conducting a feasibility study focused on the Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) virus as a first project to come out of IDT’s broad range of vector technologies.
Germany-based globally focused chemicals distributor Brenntag has entered the Israeli specialty chemicals distribution market, acquiring Y.S Ashkenazi Agencies and its subsidiary, Biochem Trading. Brenntag said signing and closing of the acquisition took place simultaneously. Financial terms were not disclosed.
ExxonMobil is expanding its carbon capture and storage (CCS) capabilities at two sites in the US, namely Baytown in Texas, and LaBarge in Wyoming. The projects are part of plans to reduce CO2 emissions and reach a target of net zero across its operations by 2050.
Axens and Univation Technologies have entered into a cooperation agreement to improve capital and operating efficiencies for the production of on-purpose linear alpha olefins (LAO), including both butene-1 and hexene-1 used to make PE resins by the Unipol Process.
DuPont Sustainable Solutions has been rebranded as DSS+ with effect from Feb. 28. After separating from parent DuPont in September 2019 in a spinoff backed by Swiss private equity group Gyrus Capital, the company became an independent consulting firm to industrial sectors such as chemicals, oil & gas, mining, metals and manufacturing.
Under order from a US federal judge in Texas, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Mar. 1 began publishing information relating to Pfizer’s application for approval of the Covid-19 vaccine it developed together with Germany’s BioNTech.
Full-service CDMO CordenPharma is making a major investment to increase lipid manufacturing capacity at its CordenPharma Chenôve facility near Dijon, France. The project is one of 25 based on mRNA technology that the French government is backing with altogether €585 million.
