Technology supplier W. R. Grace has won a fourth licensing contract for its Unipol PP process technology from China’s Oriental Energy. The technology will be used in Oriental’s fifth PP line, which will have a capacity of 400,000 t/y. An onstream date for the new line was not given.
Clariant Catalysts is participating in Germany’s TransHyDE project AmmoRef, which aims to develop technologies and catalysts for ammonia cracking to facilitate future hydrogen transport.
After days of speculation, it’s now official. Australian biopharmaceuticals manufacturer CSL has grabbed for and won the hand of Swiss Vifor Pharma. The boards of both companies have unanimously approved the $11.7 billion public tender offer, which looks certain to be accepted by Vifor’s shareholders. Its largest, Patinex, with 23%, has already agreed to tender.
German chemical company Wacker and compatriot CDMO CordenPharma have agreed to jointly develop know-how and processes for manufacturing lipid nanoparticles (LNP) to meet growing market demand. Both companies will first build up R&D capacities at their respective sites – Wacker in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and CordenPharma in Caponago, Italy.
In the VAT 0002 extension trial investigating the safety and immunogenicity of the protein-based recombinant adjuvanted Covid-19 vaccine they are partly developing as a booster, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline said the shot delivered a “consistently strong immune response” and was well tolerated, regardless of the vaccine it followed.
Peter Vanacker, currently president and CEO of Finnish refiner Neste, has been tapped to be the new CEO of LyondellBasell (LYB) starting at the latest in June 2022. He will succeed Bhavesh (Bob) Patel, who is leaving the company at the end of 2021 to become chief executive of W. R. Grace from January 2022. Vanacker will also sit on LYB’s board.
Danish biotech Novozymes and Italian engineering company Saipem have agreed to collaborate on the development and commercialization of an enzymatic carbon capture process, a biological alternative to traditional carbon capture.
German multinational chemical distributor Brenntag has announced plans to expand its site in Kędzierzyn-Koźle, Poland, to increase its service capabilities to customers in the animal nutrition and pet food industry. Proposals include adding a new production line and expanding storage capabilities by the end of 2022.
Dutch renewables specialist Avantium has finalized plans for what it said will be the world’s first commercial scale production facility for FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), with a capacity of 5,000 t/y. With the last hurdle to fulfilling all financing conditions successfully taken, production of the precursor of high-end plastic polyethylene furanoate (PEF) is now slated to begin in 2024, a year behind schedule.
US-based Ascensus Specialties has bought Wychem, a UK-based manufacturer of fine chemicals for pharmaceutical and specialty applications. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The buyer said it will continue to support Wychem’s manufacturing facility and offices in the UK.
Bayer has now won two of five cases in which US plaintiffs have charged that Monsanto’s glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup caused their cancer. All the cases have been heard in the state of California. In the second consecutive victory for the German group, a jury in San Bernardino County found that Roundup was not the cause of a woman's non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL).
Novartis and market watchers alike have been dropping repeated hits that a sale of the Swiss drugs giant’s Sandoz-branded generic drugs arm may be closer than has been hinted up to now. In an interview with German weekly news magazine Wirtschaftswoche last week, CEO Vas Narasimhan said, however, that beyond several requests for information no concrete offers are currently on the table.
The US Senate has narrowly voted, 48 to 52, in favor of a Republican Party resolution to block president Joe Biden’s Covid-19 vaccine mandate for companies employing 100 people or more. Two conservative senators from Biden’s Democratic Party voted with the opposition.
Cabot has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with IFF Health and Biosciences to develop and commercialize sustainable reinforcing additives for rubber products. Under the agreement, the companies will exclusively work together to accelerate innovative technologies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the amount of renewable bio-based content
Fertilizer giant Yara has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Sumitomo Chemical under which the Norwegian group will examine the supply of clean ammonia to the Japanese firm’s production plants. Sumitomo would use the clean ammonia for producing petrochemicals and plastics and/or distributing energy out of its plants in Japan.
Abu-Dhabi sovereign wealth fund Mubadala Investment Co. has acquired a 1.9% stake in Sibur, Russia’s largest integrated petrochemicals producer. Terms were agreed prior to Sibur’s merger with compatriot petrochemical producer TAIF, which Mubadala said is “bound to further the company’s position in the polyolefins and rubbers markets, contribute to the pipeline of growth capex projects and unlock additional operational synergies.”
Belgian chemicals and recycling company Umicore is teaming up with German carmaker Volkswagen in a joint venture to produce cathode materials for VW’s battery cell production. The companies said the new firm would be the first of its kind in the European automotive market and would support the ambitious objectives of the EU’s Green Deal.
Germany’s Merck is allocating an additional €600 million to its strategic corporate venture capital arm M Ventures. The chemicals, pharmaceuticals and life sciences group said the funds will be deployed over the next five years.
Italian contractor Tecnimont has signed three contracts with Borouge for engineering, procurement construction (EPC) services on the polyolefins expansion in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi. The value of the turnkey contracts, which Tecnimont said were awarded on the basis of a competitive bidding process, totals about $3.5 billion.
ExxonMobil Chemical has acquired Materia, a US-based company that has pioneered technology for manufacturing a new class of materials that can be used in various applications, including wind turbine blades, electric vehicle parts, sustainable construction, and anticorrosive coatings. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
As the most recently documented Covid-19 variant, Omicron, continues to rapidly circle the globe – it has now been found in 57 countries and 21 US states, according to the US Centers for Disease Control – Pfizer and BioNTech have become the first vaccine manufacturers to claim that their booster shot can deal with it.
Univar Solutions has acquired Brazil’s Sweetmix Distribuidora de Materias Primas Industrais for an undisclosed sum. Based in Sao Paulo, Sweetmix offers a range of food mixtures, sweeteners and other ingredients, as well as specialty additives for coatings, adhesives, sealants and elastomers (CASE), rubbers and plastics.
French multinational group Saint-Gobain has agreed to acquire GCP Applied Technologies for about $2.3 billion, gaining a world-leading presence in the expanding construction chemicals sector. Both boards of directors have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close by the end of 2022.
Plant ingredients supplier Roquette, which is also is a leading player in naturally-derived pharmaceutical excipients, has announced plans for a new innovation center at its US site in Spring House, Pennsylvania. The complex due to open in summer 2022 will house Roquette Pharmaceutical Solutions’ headquarters and serve as a global hub for R&D.
In his interview with CHEManager, Jeff Zhu, chairman of the Chinese Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM), talks about the industry’s role in helping achieve China’s carbon-neutrality goal.
During its Dec. 10, session, the US Supreme Court has said it will review Bayer’s petition to have the country’s highest court decide whether a federal district court’s judgment in favor of Edwin Hardeman should be allowed to stand.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical has announced plans to carve out by 2023 and finally exit its petrochemical and coal chemicals businesses. The move is part of its latest management policy called Forging the Future, which covers the period through to the end of fiscal 2025.
IMCD China, part of Netherlands-headquartered globally active specialty chemicals distributor IMCD, has agreed to acquire all of Chinese personal care company Syntec to bolster its position in the personal care and cosmetics sector. Closing of the transaction, for which financial terms were not revealed, is planned to take place within the next five weeks.
Swiss CDMO Lonza has agreed a five-year collaboration on the development and manufacturing of biologics and small molecules with European venture capital firm Bioqube Ventures.
US specialty chemicals and performance materials manufacturer Cabot Corp. has agreed to sell its purification solutions business, Norit Activated Carbon, to One Equity Partners for $111 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of quarter one 2022, subject to the usual conditions.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies is investing £400 million to expand its Teesside site in northeast England, where it makes the active ingredient for the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine. The Japanese company said the expanded facilities are set to open in 2023 or early 2024, creating as many as 350 “highly skilled jobs” in contract manufacturing.
Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the chemical industry and other industries have achieved rapid growth in the past years and are contributing to China’s economic development.
In the past 20 years, the chemical industry in China has grown rapidly and today accounts for close to 40% of worldwide chemical-industry revenue. Understanding environment-related regulatory and policy shifts now in full swing in China is critical to ensuring compliance and reducing business interruption risks for chemical companies either operating in or sourcing from China.
South Africa’s Competition Commission has blocked Sasol’s proposed sale of its sodium cyanide business to Czech-based firm Draslovka on pricing concerns. Sasol said the decision to block the deal was unexpected, particularly given that the Commission had fully evaluated the pricing issue earlier in the review process.
With a vote of 13 to 10, the Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee, an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration, narrowly decided to to recommend emergency use authorization (EUA) of the Covid-19 antiviral pill molnupiravir (brand name Lagevrio) developed by US drugmaker by Merck &Co together with compatriot Ridgeback Biotherapeutics.
