Solvay Settles Patent Dispute with China’s HySci
Solvay has reached full and final financial settlement with China’s HySci (Tianjin) Specialty Materials over a patent infringement suit for rare earth oxides.
News
Jazz Sells Sunosi Drug to Axsome, Hikes UK CBD Capacity
Jazz Pharmaceuticals has agreed to sell its sleep-disorder treatment Sunosi to Axsome Therapeutics as it focuses on oncology and neuroscience. Under the terms of the agreement, Jazz will pay Axsome $53 million upfront, as well as royalties on US sales.
Sluggish European Uptake for Novavax Covid Shot
European uptake of the Covid-19 vaccine made by US biotech Novavax has been slack, reports say, with little clarity as to who or what is to blame. Are delivery delays still a problem as they were early in the year or is the protein-based shot not resonating with the hard-to-reach population segments that reject mRNA vaccines as too new?
Yann Lissillour Appointed CEO of Safic-Alcan
Martial Lecat and Philippe Combette will cease their functions within the Safic-Alcan Executive Committee on Apr. 1, 2022. At the same time, Combette, current Chairman of Safic-Alcan, will hand over the presidency of the group to Yann Lissillour. Lectat and Combette joined Safic-Alcan in June and October 1988 respectively.
Sanofi in Billion-Dollar Collaboration With IGM
French drugmaker Sanofi has signed an exclusive worldwide collaboration agreement with IGM Biosciences, a clinical-stage biotechnology company. The deal focuses on creating and developing and commercializing engineered IgM antibody antagonists against three oncology targets, along with three immunology/inflammation targets.
Eastman Talks with France on Site for Recycling Plant
US chemical company Eastman has entered into exclusive negotiations with Port-Jérôme-sur-Seine in Normandy, France, as the location for a proposed chemical recycling facility. Eastman plans to invest up to $1 billion in the facility that will process about 160,000 t/y of hard-to-recycle polyester waste.
Peter Vanacker to Start as LyondellBasell CEO on May 23
Peter Vannacker will step into his new role as CEO of LyondellBasell (LYB) on May 23. The company's Board of Directors appointed the 55-year-old German-Belgian dual national to the position in December 2021.
Global Sciences Buys Pure BioPlastics
Global Sciences, a Canadian multinational consumer goods company that also specializes in cannabidiol (CBD) products, has executed a binding letter of intent to buy Pure BioPlastics from Pure Vision Technology. The move follows six months of due diligence and discovery between the companies.
KBR and ExxonMobil Partner on PDH
US engineering group KBR and ExxonMobil Catalysts and Licensing are to work together to enhance technology for propane dehydrogenation (PDH). Under the terms of the collaboration, ExxonMobil’s proprietary catalyst technology will be combined with KBR’s proprietary K-PRO process that produces propylene from propane.
Baumann Faces Fresh Challenge at Bayer AGM
Bayer CEO Werner Baumann will face a fresh leadership challenge at the company’s annual general meeting scheduled for Apr. 29. Singapore-based Temasek Holdings, which is said to have helped the German group stem its $63 billion purchase of Monsanto in 2018, has soured on the costly and still controversial acquisition and sees Baumann as having bungled it.
WHO Rejects Medicago's Covid Vaccine
The Covid-19 vaccine Covifenz made by Canada’s Medicago, approved for use in the country in February, has been rejected for review by the World Health Organization (WHO) on grounds that the company is partly owned by tobacco company Philip Morris.
Huntsman Wins Proxy Fight with Starboard
Huntsman has managed to rebuff a move by activist investor Starboard Value to appoint four members to the chemical company’s board. According to preliminary results from Huntsman’s annual meeting on Mar. 25, shareholders voted to elect all 10 of Huntsman’s nominated directors.
Guterres Says Don’t Replace Russian Energy with more Fossil Fuel
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has criticized Western governments’ race to replace Russian oil, gas and coal imports with “any available alternate fossil-based fuel “in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Retreating from plans to move toward renewable energy could fuel the world's "mutually assured destruction" through climate change as much as a war, he stressed.
Sonatrach and Chinese Partners Plan Algerian Phosphates Project
Algerian firms Asmidal, a subsidiary of state-owned oil group Sonatrach, and Manal have signed an agreement with Chinese firms Wuhuan Engineering and Yunnan Tain'An Chemical to form a joint venture for an integrated phosphates project. The new company – Algerian Chinese Fertilizers – will be owned 56% by the Algerian partners and 44% by the Chinese.
Roquette Plans €25 Million Polyols Project
French firm Roquette has announced plans to spend €25 million to upgrade its liquid and powder polyols plant in Lestrem between 2022 and 2024. Roquette said the investment will strengthen its position as a leader in polyols and establish a strong reliable supply in the long term.
China said Worried About Sanctions on Russian JVs
Chinese oil and petrochemicals giant Sinopec is planning what it says is its highest capital spending budget in corporate history for 2022 after posting its highest profit in a decade in 2021. In a filing to the Shanghai stock exchange, the group said it expects to spend 198 billion yuan ($31.10 billion) this year, 18% more than last year.
Fujifilm Buys Shenandoah Biotechnology
Fujifilm Irvine Scientific, part of Japan’s Fujifilm Holdings, will acquire Shenandoah Biotechnology, a US-based, privately held manufacturer of recombinant proteins. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close later this month, were not disclosed.
Total Says it Can’t Cut all Ties with Russia
TotalEnergies announced on Mar. 22 that it would stop buying Russian oil by the end of 2022 and refrain from concluding any new investment projects in the country. A day later, it modified the announcement, saying that the decision does not apply to natural gas.
Barentz Buys France’s Unipex
Dutch-based multinational distributor Barentz will acquire Unipex, a French-headquartered distributor of life science and specialty chemicals, for an undisclosed sum. The purchase of the Paris-based group strengthens Barentz’ presence in France and immediately complements its European network. It also provides a stepping stone for Barentz in North Africa.
Flamma Boosts API Manufacturing with Third Site
Flamma Group, a company specializing in producing and commercializing small molecule APIs for the life science industry, as well as being a CDMO for new chemical entities and late-stage intermediates, is to acquire a third manufacturing site in Italy as of April.
Saudi Aramco Steps up Engagement in China
Saudi Aramco, world‘s largest oil company, plans to participate in developing a major integrated refinery and petrochemical complex in Northeast China. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chinese state-owned chemicals giant Sinopec for potential downstream collaboration on projects in the People’s Republic.
Vynova Replaces Gas With Hydrogen Boilers
PVC producer Vynova is replacing the gas boilers it uses in its purification processes. The Belgian company recently installed a state-new hydrogen-fired steam boiler system at its Tessenderlo headquarters site and plans to add a second identical unit by the end of 2022.
OMV Shifts Focus to Sustainable Fuels, Chemicals and Materials
Austrian oil, gas and chemicals group OMV has outlined its Strategy 2030, which will see it transform into a sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials company with a strong focus on the circular economy. The company said the plans represent the most fundamental strategic shift in its history.
FDA Panel Meeting to Discuss Covid Vaccine Boosters
The US Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a virtual meeting of its scientific advisory panel for Apr. 6 to discuss the prospect of future Covid-19 boosters and the process for updating existing vaccines. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) will participate.
Lonza to Manufacture Oasmia’s Ovarian Cancer Drug
Swiss CDMO Lonza has signed an agreement for the large-scale manufacture of the main drug intermediate for Swedish specialty pharma Oasmia’s investigational cancer drug candidate Cantrixil.
ABB Wins NatureWorks PLA Automation Contract
Swedish-Swiss technology conglomerate ABB has won a contract from NatureWorks to automate the bioplastics producer’s proposed greenfield polylactic acid (PLA) plant in Thailand. NatureWorks is planning to spend more than $600 million on the facility in Nakhon Sawan province, which will ferment and distill plant-based sugars and convert them first to lactic acid, then lactide and polymerize them into Ingeo PLA.
BMS Sues Astra Zeneca in Cancer Drug Patent Row
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) is suing AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, alleging that the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker’ Imfinzi to treat lung and bladder cancer infringes several patents related to its blockbuster Opdivo.
Seqens Invests in US R&D Laboratory
French API specialist Seqens is investing what it says is a multi-million-dollar sum in its US research and development laboratory at Devens, Massachusetts. The company said the improvements will increase its R&D capability and productivity in the US and strengthen its global network. Completion of the project is expected in October 2022.
Huntsman Gears up for Proxy Fight with Starboard
Gearing up for a potential proxy fight at its Mar. 25 annual meeting, Huntsman has written to its shareholders urging them to vote for the company’s nominated directors as it hopes to head off activist investor Starboard Value.
Azelis Buys Whitfield Chemical
Azelis has bought Whitfield Chemical, the owner of WhitChem, a UK distributor focused on the coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE) and rubber and plastic additives (R&PA) market segments. Financial terms of the deal, Azelis’s third so far this year, were not disclosed.
Stolthaven Studies Storage Terminal in Brazil
Dutch storage operator Stolthaven Terminals has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Pecém Industrial and Port Complex, a joint venture between the Ceará State Government and the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands, to study a new storage terminal in Pecém Port, Brazil.
Pfizer/BioNTech Seek EUA for Fourth Comirnaty Dose
Pfizer and BioNTech have submitted an application to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of an additional booster dose of their Comirnaty vaccine for adults 65 years of age and older who have received an initial booster of any of the authorized or approved COVID-19 vaccines.
Nuberg EPC Wins Fertilizer Project
Indian engineering and construction company Nuberg EPC has been awarded a contract by Fertilisers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT) to build a brownfield NPK/diammonium phosphate (DAP) plant at Ernakulam in Kerala.
Maersk Enters Strategic Partnerships for Green Methanol
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 Selling Biosimilars Unit to Biocon for $3 Billion
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.
