US president Joe Biden announced this week that his administration will send an additional 20 million Covid-19 vaccine doses abroad by the end of June, this time including some approved for use in the US.
French CDMO Novasep is expanding its manufacturing capabilities for highly potent active pharmaceutical ingredients (HPAPIs) at its Le Mans site. The investment of more than €4 million will also create 30 new jobs at the site. It did not say when the expanded capabilities would be available.
As a step toward meeting the targets of its One Planet roadmap and at the same time contribute to China’s carbon neutrality goals, Solvay has reached agreement with Engie China to build its first solar power plant at its Zhenjiang site. The facility due to start up in April 2022 will have solar power capacity of 891 kw and is expected to cut emissions by 550 t of CO2 equivalent annually.
After seeing encouraging results with their adjuvanted recombinant Covid-19 vaccine candidate across all adult age groups in a recently completed Phase 2 trial, Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) are preparing to launch a global Phase 3 randomized double-blind study “in the coming weeks.”
Dutch life science ingredients distributor Barentz has opened an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, expanding its coverage in Latin America. The move coincides with the appointment of subsidiary Barentz Argentina as a strategic partner of Roquette Freres for all of its human nutrition and pharmaceutical ingredients business in the country.
Ercros has announced plans to invest €40.4 million at its Tarragona site as part of its 3D strategic plan. The company added, however, that the sum could exceed €65 million, if other investments that are underway or pending authorization are included.
Problems at CDMO Emergent BioSolutions in the US state of Maryland and the resulting Food and Drug Administration shutdown of its Baltimore vaccine production facility continue to cloud the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 shot. The newspaper Washington Post said the US federal government will not send any supplies of the healthcare group’s single-dose vaccine to states over the coming week, citing the weekly shipment allocation of the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
How to Build or Maintain Critical Mass in the Chemical Distribution Industry
Analysis of the mergers & acquisitions activity in chemical distribution under the impression of the pandemic situation and how it might develop going forward.
Danish coatings company Hempel has agreed to buy Farrow & Ball, a UK luxury decorative paints company, from US-based private equity owners Ares Management. Financial terms were not disclosed.
After German Covid-19 vaccine maufacturer BioNTech announced earlier this week that it plans to expand into Asia with a new plant in Singapore, news has emerged that US rival Moderna will set up a production base in South Korea. The company has not yet confirmed a story by the Korea Times that quotes Korean government officials as sources.
A Mexican court has reversed a ruling that favored Bayer in a legal challenge brought by the German pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals group against Mexico’s plan to ban glyphosate. In a statement, the country’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources said the Collegiate Court had revoked the provisional suspension of plans to prohibit use of the chemical, of which Bayer is a leading producer.
US biotech Novavax has again delayed filing for approval of its protein-based Covid-19 vaccine at least until July this year, citing issues related to an assay needed to show that its manufacturing process is consistent across different sites. CEO Stanley Erck said the company now aims to submit data to regulators in the UK, US and EU in the third quarter of 2021 rather than in the second quarter as previously planned. The vaccine is currently in a rolling review with the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
In a nutshell, reaching sustainability has become a key aspect for chemical companies and adjacent businesses along the product chain with a high entry hurdle for everyone.
Croda International has announced it is undertaking a strategic review of its Performance Technologies and Industrial Chemicals (PTIC) businesses. The primary aim, said the UK specialty chemicals company, will be to establish what type of ownership structure best serves the businesses going forward and create a stronger platform for its future growth.
US specialty chemicals company Element Solutions has paid about $60 million in cash to buy H.K Wentworth (HKW), a UK-based producer of electro-chemicals for the electronics, LED, automotive and industrial manufacturing industries.
BASF is investing in its enzymes business at the Novartis Kundl/Schaftenau Campus in Austria. The German chemical giant said the agreement with the Swiss group – for which financial details were not disclosed – will enable it to develop a world-scale operation for bacterial enzymes and biotechnology products.
Unilever, Croda, Scott Bader, Crown Paints and Afton Chemical are among the first companies to join a task force convened by the UK’s Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) to introduce a circular economy for polymers in liquid formulations (PLFs) and improve their waste management.
In two major new investments at its sites in Visp, Switzerland, and Portsmouth New Hampshire, USA, Swiss CDMO Lonza said it will spend 850 million Swiss francs to expand mammalian drug substance manufacturing facilities. With the two projects, it plans to add 550 jobs, 300 in Switzerland, 250 in the US.
Pfizer and BioNTech have applied to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for full approval of their Covid-19 vaccine in adolescents aged 12 to 15. If successful, the American-German duo’s shot now called Comirnaty would be the first in the US to obtain this status. It also was the first to win an emergency use authorization (EUA), in December 2020
US catalyst and technology company W. R. Grace has won two separate contracts to supply its Unipol PP process.
Azelis has entered into an agreement to buy US-based Vigon International, expanding its footprint in the life sciences sector. Financial details of the transaction expected to close in the second quarter of 2021 were not disclosed.
The long simmering discussion over whether manufacturers of Covid-19 vaccines should waive their intellectual property (IP) rights in hope of giving more people access to a shot and whether this would indeed end the pandemic faster reached the boiling point on May 5 when the US unexpectedly joined a group of developing nations pushing for such a move.
US biotech Exelixis has acquired GamaMabs Pharma’s anti-Müllerian hormone receptor 2 (AMHR2) technology. Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) targeting AMHR2 could provide clinical efficacy in gynecological, colorectal and other forms of cancer.
Arkema has completed the sale of its PMMA business to US plastics and rubber producer Trinseo, a deal announced in December 2020. The French chemical company said the divestment is “fully in line” with its ambition to become a pure specialty materials player by 2024, with the three complementary segments of Adhesive Solutions, Advanced Materials and Coating Solutions.
US Covid-19 vaccine manufacturer Moderna said it is planning to make major renovations at its Norwood, Massachusetts, mRNA production site with the aim of more than doubling its size by late 2021 or early 2022. The plans call for transforming the facility from a production and lab space to an industrial technology center by acquiring another building located on the same campus.
