DSM is restructuring its health, nutrition and bioscience activities, while also reviewing options for its materials business, including a possible sale. The move is aimed at accelerating the Dutch group’s ongoing transformation and growth plans centered on benefitting people and the planet.
US biopharmas AbbVie and Regenxbio are forming a strategic partnership to develop and commercialize a gene therapy for eye diseases. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2021, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals.
Turkish Chemical Group Yiğitoğlu plans to expand its business into Eastern countries from its new office in Russia.
B4Plastics is a Belgium-based biotechnology start-up and a polymer architecture company looking to catalyze the introduction of novel biomaterials and growing them from niche to bulk applications.
Digital tools are a key to shortening the development of active pharmaceutical ingredients and thus market-ready drugs and therapies.
Successfully managing the drug substance manufacturing of Antibody-Drug Conjugates (ADCs) requires a sophisticated understanding of the technological development process and access to a range of large- and small-molecule manufacturing assets.
Neste has agreed to buy Agri Trading, a US trader of renewable waste and residue fat and oil for an undisclosed sum. The company said the move will enhance its competitiveness in the global waste and residue raw material market.
AGC Biologics is expanding capacities for plasmid DNA (pDNA) and messenger RNA (mRNA) at its site in Heidelberg, Germany. The company said in June that it had agreed to supply pDNA to Pfizer/BioNTech for their RNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, manufacturing the ingredient at Heidelberg.
Three days after the UK canceled its vaccine supply contract with French drugmaker Valneva on Sept. 13, speculation was mounting that the European Commission might be prepared to take the 100 million doses Valneva was pledged to supply or even offer production facilities in an EU member state.
The virtual cold chain is a modern software approach to save time and minimize for the shipment of temperature-sensitive goods by determining the lane-specific optimum level of thermal protection.
Sanofi has completed the $3.2 billion acquisition of US biotech Translate Bio after the tender offer for all shares expired as scheduled at midnight US Eastern Daylight Time on Sept. 4. The minimum tender condition and all of the other conditions to the offer were satisfied, the French drugmaker said.
The Processes4Planet (P4Planet) partnership’s goal is to transform the European process industries to make them circular and achieve overall climate neutrality at EU level by 2050, while enhancing their global competitiveness.
Saudi Aramco has signed 22 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with companies that include Shell, Solvay, Air Liquide and Linde as it drives forward its industrial investment program, called Namaat. The Namaat program is focused on investments in the areas of sustainability, technology, industrial and advanced materials
German biotech CureVac has canceled manufacturing contracts with two prospective partners for its Covid-19 vaccine CVnCoV while retaining others. The company said on Sept. 14 it would end the arrangements with Germany’s Wacker Chemie and Switzerland’s Celonic Group, but leave the deals with Rentschler Biopharma and Novartis intact.
ISPE and its members are developing the roadmap to introduce Industry 4.0, also called the Smart Factory, at the pharmaceutical industry as Pharma 4.0 – an operating model that is interconnected, meaning that the digital tools allow for a fully connected network to enable direct communication between all levels in an organization.
Janssen Sciences Ireland, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology arm of US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson, has submitted a planning application for a €150 million expansion of its biomedicines facility at Ringaskiddy, County Cork.
German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences company Merck is aiming to lift group sales to about €25 billion by 2025 and up spending in its “Big 3” businesses of Life Sciences, Healthcare and Electronics as it aims to become the “world-leading science and technology company of the 21st century.”
Shell Ventures is partnering BlueAlp Holding to develop, scale and deploy the latter’s chemical recycling technology that converts plastic waste into pyrolysis oil. As part of the agreement, Shell has taken a 21.25% stake in BlueAlp.
Porsche Consulting presents a vision of a high-end smart biopharmaceutical production unit and a corresponding operating model.
In his interview with CHEManager, Thorsten Wenzel, Vice President and global head of the industry business unit Chemicals at SAP, talks about most recent trends and developments shaping the future of the chemical industry.
Cloud-based web applications offer substantial benefits for the digital transformation of the chemical industry.
Huntsman has announced plans to expand its production facilities for polyurethane catalysts and specialty amines at Petfurd, Hungary. The Texas-based US chemical producer did not say how much the capacity upgrade will cost, only that the “multi-million dollar” project is receiving a $3.8 million grant from the Hungarian government.
Japanese drugmaker Takeda has clarified its plans to produce and distribute the Novavax Covid-19 shot in the country, if and when it is approved. After several delays, in its last announcement the US biotech said it planned to apply to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization in this year’s fourth quarter.
German flavor and fragrance company Symrise has acquired a 25% share in Kobo Products, a powder and dispersion specialist headquartered in South Plainfield, New Jersey, USA. Symrise said the investment is a strategic step to expand into inorganic UV filters and decorative cosmetics.
Following the start of pre-engineering in May, Kemira has confirmed that it is adding extra production capacity for alkenyl succinic anhydride (ASA) sizing agent in China. The Finnish company is making a multi-million investment in a third production line at its site in Nanjing, Jiangsu province – it did not disclose capacity details.
MyRechemical, the dedicated waste-to-chemical-technology subsidiary of NextChem, part of Italy's Maire Tecnimont group, is collaborating with Johnson Matthey (JM) of the UK to commercialize waste-to-methanol technology worldwide.
Sanofi is continuing its drive to diversify and upgrade its pharmaceuticals portfolio through acquisitions. In its latest move, the French drugmaker said it has signed a definitive merger agreement with US biotech Kadmon, a biopharmaceutical company specializing in treatments for unmet needs in transplant medication.
Italian multinational oil and gas group ENI has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Mubadala Petroleum of Abu Dhabi to identify cooperation opportunities in the energy transition sector, including in the areas of hydrogen and carbon capture, utilization and storage.
As part of an investment in its global hydration capabilities, US CDMO Avantor recently completed a major expansion of its production facility at Gliwice, Poland – the company’s European manufacturing flagship – and has begun a multi-stage expansion of the plant at Aurora, Ohio, USA, due to be completed by mid-2022.
German engineering plastics producer Covestro, the former BayerMaterialScience, has surprised both its workforce and the markets with plans unveiled last week to eliminate 10% of the Leverkusen-based company’s jobs. More than half of the job losses would affect its German home market.
LyondellBasell has been selected by Spanish energy and chemicals company Repsol Químic to provide its Spherizone technology for a PP plant to be built in Portugal. The 300,000 t/y plant will be located at Repsol’s existing complex in Sines and is due for startup by 2025.
At the end of a long-running controversial case, US drugmaker Purdue Pharma, manufacturer of the opioid painkiller OxyContin, has won court approval for a multibillion-dollar restructuring plan it helped to engineer that will shelter the company and its principal owners, the Sackler family, from lawsuits.
Leading specialty chemicals distributor Azelis has announced plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) on the Euronext Brussels exchange, aiming to raise €880 million to pay down debt and support its growth plans.
Industry experts Josef Trapl, Wolfgang Winter, Christian Woelbeling, and Thomas Zimmer – all members of ISPE’s Pharma 4.0 group – talk about the idea behind ISPE’s Pharma 4.0 initiative and the challenges on the way to realize the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry.
US green technology firm LanzaTech is collaborating with compatriot company Twelve, with the two combining their platform technologies to develop what they said would be the world’s first PP made from CO2 emissions.
