Streamlining the Path to Peptide Market Supply
Interview with Michael Postlethwaite, Senior Director, Sales & Business Development, European Territories, AmbioPharm
News
15.03.2021 • News
Petronas Signs Abu Dhabi Collaborations
Malaysian state-owned oil and gas group Petronas has signed Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) with Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) and renewable energy company Masdar, both in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
15.03.2021 • News
AstraZeneca-EU Relationship Sours Further
Astra Zeneca’s relationship with the EU is at rock bottom. Within three days, news emerged of deaths from blood clots in people receiving the UK drugmaker’s vaccine, and drugs regulator European Medicines Agency (EMA) said it was studying reports that 41 people receiving the shot in the UK had suffered an anaphylaxis reaction. What’s more, the company just took back another supply commitment.
15.03.2021 • News
EU Firms in Alliance for Green Hydrogen
Seven companies from the European GET H2 hydrogen initiative, including chemical producer Evonik, have established a consortium to help promote industrial offtake of climate-friendly green hydrogen from renewable energies.
Advancing Scientific Breakthroughs
Interview with Christophe Couturier and Claudia Berrón, Avantor
Container with New Perspectives
Originally engineered for the transport of chocolate, tank containers with agitators have discovered a wide range of uses.
Sustainable Supply Chain Management in the Chemical Industry
Besides digitalization, sustainability and the circular economy are the key issues facing the chemical industry at present and in the coming decades.
Weylchem Advanced Intermediates Broadens Scope of Market Activities
CHEManager Interview with Antti Koivisto and Michael Badine, WeylChem Advanced Intermediates
Recycled and Carbon-neutral Precious Metals
Over the years, sustainability has evolved from an aspirational goal to an operational priority. Companies in every industry are being asked to incorporate more environmental stewardship into their operations and business practices.
Innovation is the Driver to Delivering Value
Michael Reubold talked to Evonik’s Sanjeev Taneja about the role of catalysts in the company and their value to the industry and the society.
Renewable Hydrogen
To take advantage of the opportunity hydrogen presents, the European chemical industry must engage in the emerging hydrogen market now, setting up specific pilots, develop an appropriate partner and ecosystem network and, most crucially, adapt the R&D portfolios and investment plans needed to capture a share of the hydrogen opportunity.
12.03.2021 • News
IMCD sells Nutri Granulations to Huber
IMCD has agreed to sell its Nutri Granulations business to Huber Engineered Materials, a division of J.M. Huber, for an undisclosed sum. The transaction is expected to close by Apr. 1. The Dutch distributor originally acquired the business as part of its takeover of US specialty chemicals distributor E.T. Horn in June 2018.
12.03.2021 • News
OMV Plans Glycerin-to-Propanol Pilot Plant
Austrian energy and chemicals company OMV has announced plans to invest about €30 million in a pilot plant that will produce propanol from glycerin. Construction is planned to start in the second quarter of 2021, with the plant due to go into operation in 2023.
12.03.2021 • News
Eight Countries Halt AstraZeneca Shot on Blood Clot Fears
AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine is drawing negative headlines again after several incidences of blood clots have been reported, including the death of a 49-year-old nurse from multiple thrombosis 10 days after receiving the shot. On Mar. 10, eight countries had suspended injections from a batch labeled ABV5300 or halted use of this vaccine pending clarification.
12.03.2021 • News
EMA Clears J&J Covid Vaccine for Marketing
The EU cleared Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for conditional marketing in all 27member states on Mar. 11 as expected. The single-dose adenovirus shot made by subsidiary Janssen Biotech, under a rolling review since December 2020, is the fourth to be approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
11.03.2021 • News
Saipem Plans Green Hydrogen Projects
Italian engineering and construction firm Saipem has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with compatriot company Alboran Hydrogen to jointly develop and build five plants for producing green hydrogen via electrolysis.
11.03.2021 • News
Ann Verlinden Appointed as Managing Director of Catalisti
Belgian spearhead cluster Catalisti has appointed Ann Verlinden as its new Managing Director. She will succeed Jan Van Havenbergh as of Apr. 5, 2021.
11.03.2021 • News
WuXi AppTec Buys British CDMO Oxgene
China’s WuXi AppTec has acquired British gene therapy CDMO Oxgene, making the Oxford-based company a wholly owned subsidiary of the contract testing, development and manufacturing business unit for cell and gene therapies, WuXi Advanced Therapies. With the sale, Oxgene will retain its name.
11.03.2021 • News
EU Orders 4 Million More Comirnaty Doses
Trying to stay ahead of both coronavirus developments and criticism that it is moving too slowly or in the wrong direction, Europe is piling on fresh orders for the BioNTech-Pfizer vaccine. On Mar. 10, it announced it had agreed to acquire 4 million additional doses for delivery in the next two weeks.
10.03.2021 • News
Amgen Boosts Oncology Portfolio with Five Prime Buy
Amgen is to buy Five Prime Therapeutics, a clinical-stage biotech focused on developing immuno-oncology and targeted cancer therapies, for about $1.9 billion. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the second quarter, when a wholly owned subsidiary of Amgen will merge with Five Prime.
10.03.2021 • News
Dow Plans China Specialties Hub
Dow has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Zhanjiang Economic and Technological Development Zone Administrative Committee (Zhanjiang EDZ) to build the Dow South China Specialties Hub, a multi-year project providing customers local access to its products and technologies.
10.03.2021 • News
Russian Covid Vaccine to be Made in Italy
The Russian government has clinched a deal to produce its Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine in Italy and will proceed with the project even if the European Medicines Agency (EMA) decides not to approve the candidate, the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce said. “The innovative production process will help create new jobs and allow Italy to control the entire production of the compound,” it added.
09.03.2021 • News
DuPont Pays $2.3 Billion for Laird
DuPont has agreed to buy electronics group Laird Performance Materials from private equity group Advent International for $2.3 billion. The transaction expected to close in the third quarter combines DuPont’s technology portfolio in films, laminates and plating chemistry with Lair’s electromagnetic shielding and thermal management solutions.
09.03.2021 • News
Milliken Acquires Germany’s Zebra-chem
US plastics additives and colorants manufacturer Milliken has acquired Zebra-chem, a globally-focused chemical producer based at Bad Bentheim, Germany. The German company specializes in chemical blowing agents as well as peroxide masterbatches that enable plastics producers to incorporate up to 100% recycled content into new plastics.
09.03.2021 • News
Baxter in Fill & Finish Deal for Moderna Vaccine
Under a contract just announced, Baxter BioPharma Solutions will perform fill & finish services for some 60 to 90 million doses of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine in the US this year. The work will take place at the CMO’s facility at Bloomington, Indiana. Part of Baxter International, the company specializes in parenteral pharmaceuticals.
CO2-Neutral Chemical Industry by 2050
The European Chemical Industry has set out on an ambitious path to become carbon neutral. Germany, as one of the major chemical manufacturing nations, has committed to achieve this goal by 2050. But companies need to translate this industry vision into their specific context.
The European Chemical Industry’s New Normal
A trusted adviser to major companies with a chemical industry background, and a Global Expert with the World Economic Forum, Paul Hodges, chairman of New Normal Consulting, reflects on the issues the post-Brexit chemical industry must tackle.
08.03.2021 • News
AGC Biologics Expands Milan Facility
AGC Biologics, a biopharma CDMO, is planning to expand its cell and gene therapy center of excellence in Milan, Italy, to increase capacities and implement viral vector suspension capabilities. Two more floors will be added to the current suite and additional equipment will be installed on the existing floor. The new facilities are scheduled to go into full operation in 2022.
08.03.2021 • News
Barentz Boosts European and US Presence
Dutch distributor Barentz has acquired a majority stake in the Noack Group, extending its activities in the Central/East European region and gaining a complementary portfolio of animal nutrition ingredients.
08.03.2021 • News
Covid Vaccine Nationalism Raises Concern
With the race to vaccinate populations against Covid-19 going full steam, health agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Serum Institute of India (SIL), world’s largest vaccine maker, have raised alarm that nationalism and protectionism could lead to an international vaccine trade war that in particular could disadvantage countries with insufficient resources.
05.03.2021 • News
PQ Sells Performance Chemicals to Cerberus/Koch Partnership
PQ Group has agreed to sell its Performance Chemicals business for $1.1 billion to a partnership established by Cerberus Capital Management and Koch Minerals & Trading. The divestment is part of PQ’s strategy, called Simpler + Stronger, which the group said is aimed at driving greater value for its shareholders.
05.03.2021 • News
Novartis to Help CureVac Speed Vaccine Rollout
A few weeks ago, Novartis said it was exploring ways to participate in the European Covid-19 vaccine manufacturing effort. In the meantime, it has been busy. On Mar. 4 the Swiss drugmaker signed an initial manufacturing agreement with CureVac to boost the German biotech’s overall vaccine capacity by 50 million doses in 2021 and 200 million doses in 2022.
05.03.2021 • News
Merck Rebrands Performance Materials as Electronics
Germany’s Merck is changing the name of its Performance Materials business segment to Electronics to reflect the strategic realignment the worldwide group has undergone over the past several years and mark what it says is an additional milestone in its “Bright Future” transformation program, begun in 2018.
04.03.2021 • News
UOP Wins Brunei Aromatics Project
Honeywell UOP is providing its advanced reforming and aromatics technologies to Hengyi Industries for a proposed petrochemical complex in Pulau Muara Besar, Brunei.
04.03.2021 • News
France Modifies Age Limit for AstraZeneca Vaccine
As immunization woes mount, France has done a stunning about-turn and modified age limits it had placed on the AstraZeneca/Oxford vaccine. Germany may be on the brink of following suit, while Spain and Italy have not yet hinted at any moves in that direction. Earlier, French president Emmanuel Macron had labeled the UK-developed vaccine “quasi ineffective” but now says he would get it himself.
