Members of the European Parliament (EP) at a Jan. 19 plenary debate on the EU’s strategy for Covid-19 vaccine procurement and deployment for the most part expressed support for the common approach to purchasing a common supply for the 27 member states. At the same time, they urged more solidarity in access to inoculation and transparency in contracts with pharmaceutical companies.
Swiss CDMO Lonza said it intends to unload two of its capsule production sites, at Ploermel, France, and Edinburgh, Scotland, for an undisclosed sum to London-based CDMO NextPharma. The proposed deal is subject to regulatory approval. According to reports, most of the affected employees are expected to transfer to the new owner.
W. R. Grace said it is willing to discuss a sale to 40 North Management after the private investment group raised its offer for the specialty chemical and materials firm to $65 per share, representing a value of $4.3 billion. Last November, 40 North made a first and unsolicited offer of $60 per share – or $4 billion – that Grace swiftly rejected as undervaluing the company.
Italy’s Angelini Pharma has entered into an agreement to acquire Swiss biopharma Arvelle Therapeutics in an all-cash transaction worth up to $960 million. The first $610 million will be paid following regulatory clearance of the deal, with a further $350 million paid if Arvelle’s epilepsy treatment cenobamate achieves certain revenue targets.
Dutch paints and coatings specialist AkzoNobel has offered to buy Finland’s Tikkurila as it moves to top a bid by rival US firm PPG Industries.
US drugmaker Pfizer and partner BioNTech have confirmed they will temporarily reduce Covid deliveries to Europe as Pfizer revamps its designated plant in Belgium to lift production capacity to 2 billion doses per year, as announced earlier.
Total has announced it is leaving the American Petroleum Institute (API) in disagreement over the industry grouping’s climate positions. The French energy and chemicals group said it was unable to resolve differences with API over carbon pricing, subsidies for electric vehicles and the regulation of methane emissions.
Major liquid crystal polymer (LCP) producer Celanese has announced plans to build a world-scale, multi-phase polymerization plant in China to support significant growth for its Vectra and Zenite brand of polymers.
Azelis has agreed to buy majority shareholdings in Asia Primera Kimika Inc. (APKI) and Phil-Asiatic Supply & Services Inc. (PSSI), entering the Philippine market and significantly strengthening its footprint in Southeast Asia.
US president-elect Joe Biden, who will be sworn in on Jan. 20, has picked former FDA commissioner David Kessler to replace Moncef Slaoui as head of Operation Warp Speed, (OWS), the initiative started under president Donald Trump to accelerate the speed of Covid-19 vaccine development.
US-based CDMO Catalent has agreed to buy the powder inhaler spray drying, capsule manufacturing and packaging operations of Acorda Therapeutics, a biotech specializing in developing therapies for neurological disorders. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close in the first quarter of 2021, were not disclosed.
Dutch chemical producer Nouryon has rebranded its wholly-owned industrial chemicals business as Nobian. The company said the change will allow the subsidiary to develop its integrated European value chain for essential base chemicals under its own name as Nouryon continues to focus on growing its leading position in global specialty chemicals.
Marching to the tune of the groundswell generated by Western Covid-19 vaccines approved, distributed and administered in the US, UK and the EU in recent weeks, Chinese vaccine manufacturers have been beating the drum for their candidates in countries in Latin America and the Middle East as well as at home.
TechnipFMC has restarted plans to split into two publicly traded companies: TechnipFMC and Technip Energies. The group put the separation plans on hold last March because of the coronavirus pandemic and turbulent financial markets.
Shell Canada has signed a deal to invest in Varennes Carbon Recycling, the first waste-to-low-carbon fuels plant in Quebec. Shell will take a 40% interest in the plant, which will use technology developed by Canadian clean tech company Enerkem.
Baxter BioPharma Solutions has contracted to support production of US biotech Novavax’s new Covid-19 vaccine in Germany, when it is approved. Phase 3 data from late-stage trials is expected to be revealed soon.
Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, a subsidiary of Japan’s Fujifilm Corp., has announced plans to spend more than $2 billion to build a new large-scale cell culture production site in the US to accelerate the growth of its biopharma CDMO business.
Germany’s BioNTech has scaled up its projections for the number of doses of its Covid-19 vaccine it will make this year from 1.3 billion to 2 billion, as it seeks approvals from regulatory agencies outside the US, UK and the EU, where its Comirnaty-branded product is already on the market.
French pharma Sanofi is once again boosting its immunotherapy capabilities, this time with the acquisition of UK biotech Kymab. The company will make an upfront payment of about $1.1 billion plus up to $350 million upon Kymab achieving certain milestones.
Finland’s Neste has taken a minority stake in Alterra Energy as the two collaborate to develop and license the US company’s chemical recycling technology. The size of the stake and financial terms were not disclosed.
German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences group Merck has acquired compatriot CDMO AmpTec for an undisclosed sum. The deal is designed to strengthen its life sciences’ arm’s capabilities to develop and manufacture mRNA products for applications in vaccines, treatments and diagnostics for Covid-19, among other diseases.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MRHA) cleared US biotech Moderna’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use on Jan. 7, bringing the number of vaccines available in the country to three. At the same time, the British government ordered an additional 10 million doses, with a targeted supply of 17 million.
DuPont has started a share exchange offer as part of a Reverse Morris Trust transaction that will see it merge its Nutrition & Biosciences (N&B) business into International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF). The offer allows DuPont shareholders to swap all or part of their common stockholding for N&B shares, which will convert into IFF shares.
As it rolls out an increasing number of doses of its mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine, US biotech Moderna has appointed a pharma industry veteran to spearhead the effort. Corinne Le Goff will take up the position on Jan. 19.
In its first deal of 2021, Azelis has purchased a majority shareholding in Vietnamese companies MKVN Chemicals and Viet Chemicals Trading and Service through their parent company Bellekimia Singapore. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Solvay’s transformation to a specialties company has taken another step forward with an agreement to sell its European and North American amphoteric surfactant business to US private equity firm OpenGate Capital.
CureVac has agreed a collaboration with Bayer to speed up production and distribution of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate CVnCOV, which began clinical trials in December with a goal of 36,500 participants in Europe and Asia.
PPG Industries has increased its offer for Tikkurila to €1.24 billion, or €27.75 per share, following the receipt of a rival bid for the Finnish paints company by an unnamed party. The transaction is expected to close this quarter, subject to the usual conditions. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Ineos completed its $5 billion acquisition of major petrochemicals assets from BP at the end of 2020, gaining 1,700 employees and adding two new subsidiaries, Ineos Aromatics and Ineos Acetyls.
Moderna’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine will become the second to be administered in Europe. The European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorization to the US biotech on Jan. 6, shortly after the candidate was approved by the European Medicines Agency (EMA).
UK pharma services provider Ergomed is acquiring US contract research organization (CRO) MS Clinical Services, known as MedSource.
The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) intends to open a Phase 2 investigation into Tronox’s proposed purchase of the TiZir titanium and iron business from French multinational mining and metallurgy group Eramet.
US nylon giant Ascend Performance Materials, which claims to be the world’s biggest fully integrated producer of polyamide 66 resin, has acquired Eurostar Engineering Plastics for an undisclosed sum. The French compounder manufactures a broad portfolio of flame-retardant engineered plastics and boasts expertise in halogen-free formulations.
Kemira and DuPont Nutrition and Biosciences have joined forces to develop and commercialize new, tailored biomaterials and bio-based chemicals based on DuPont’s biotechnology platform, which is at the advanced pilot stage and ready to be scaled up globally.
As the end of Donald Trump’s term as US president nears, environmental groups and even some career staffers within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are scrambling to thwart last-minute efforts by the outgoing administration to cast in stone its rollback of Obama-era antipollution and safety legislation.
