Brazilian petchems and plastic group Braskem is spending $61 million to expand its production capacity for green ethylene, the sugarcane ethanol-derived main feedstock for renewable polyethylene, at its plant in Triunfo, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. With the expansion, expected to be completed in Q4 2022, capacity will rise from 200,000 t/y currently to 260,000 t/y.
Danish coatings manufacturer Hempel has agreed to buy Wattyl, an Australian and New Zealand producer of architectural and protective paints and coatings, from owner Sherwin-Williams. Financial terms of the transaction, which is expected to close by the end of March, were not disclosed.
On the same day that Sanofi and GSK announced the start of a new Phase 2 study of their delayed adjuvanted recombinant protein-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate, Sanofi disclosed it had signed an agreement to manufacture 12 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose adenovirus-based Covid vaccine.
After completing the purchase of DuPont’s nutrition and biosciences unit, International Flavors & Fragrances (IFF) is looking to divest at least two of its expanded businesses, the Bloomberg news agency said, citing “people with knowledge of the matter.”
For the report "Value Creation in Chemicals 2020: Bouncing Back from a Year of Adversity", Boston Consulting Group (BCG) analyzed the development of the global chemicals market in the Covid-19 crisis in 2020 and in the years 2015 to 2019 using key figures. The result shows: The current crisis is forcing companies to increase their resilience. The entire value chain, exposure to the end industry, and technical, commercial and digital capabilities must be put to the test in order to respond more effectively to changes in the markets in the future.
Yara International has signed a Letter of Intent with Statkraft – Europe’s largest generator of renewable energy – and investment group Aker Horizons to establish a large-scale green ammonia plant in Norway. The partners plan to electrify and decarbonize Yara’s existing ammonia plant in Porsgrunn, targeting green hydrogen and green ammonia opportunities within shipping, agriculture and industrial applications.
The Belgian cities of Antwerp and Bruges have agreed to merge their respective ports, with the former taking an 80.2% share in the combined port and Bruges taking 19.8%. The merger remains subject to a number of conditions, including approval from Belgian competition authorities.
For several days, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty (BNT162b2) has dominated international headlines. From the market’s perspective, the most significant news is that the partners, as hinted earlier, have been able to reformulate the doses to facilitate storage at a higher temperature.
New US president Joe Biden has pledged to release altogether $4 billion in US funding to support Gavi, the global vaccine alliance. The president was expected to announce an initial $2 billion in funding at the virtual G-7 summit of the world’s largest economies on Feb. 19.
OMV and Kommunalkredit Austria – a bank specializing in infrastructure and energy financing – are investing in the construction of Austria’s largest electrolysis plant to produce green hydrogen. Total investment will be about €25 million, which will be split equally between both partners.
Sandoz, the generics division of Swiss drugmaker Novartis, is picking up GlaxoSmithKline’s cephalosporin antibiotics business, including the brands Zinnat, Zinacef and Fortum, for up to $500 million.
The IIoT continues to evolve, with countless solutions touting end-to-end process automation. However, one of the most important elements of IIoT — the human element — has taken a back burner in this hype cycle.
US-based CDMO Regis Technologies has completed a major expansion of its laboratory facilities for development of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) at its site in Morton Grove, Illinois. The project, kicked off two years ago, doubles the company’s capacity to take on new development projects.
US biopharma AbbVie and compatriot biotech Caribou Biosciences have entered into a multi-year collaboration and license agreement to research and develop chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cell therapeutics.
Spanish energy and petrochemical group Repsol has signed a licensing agreement for its propylene oxide/styrene monomer (PO/SM) and polyols technologies for three plants in China.
PolyPeptide Group has appointed Raymond De Vré as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). He will succeed Jane Salik who, after 15 years in this position, will concentrate on her role on the Board of Directors.
US chemical company Chemours announced on Feb. 11 that it had split its Fluoroproducts segment into two distinct businesses during the fourth quarter of 2020.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has granted emergency use authorization (EUA) to the AstraZeneca/ Oxford University coronavirus vaccine, in an attempt to distribute doses to more Third World countries. The vaccine will be produced by the Serum Institute of India and AstraZeneca-SKBio of South Korea.
As had been awaited, US healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson has applied to the European Medicines Authority (EMA) for conditional marketing authorization of its Covid-19 coronavirus vaccine throughout the EU.
Elkem, a Norwegian manufacturer of silicon-based advanced materials, has agreed to buy a brand-new production plant near Lyon in France. The identity of the seller was not disclosed but Elkem said the purchase price is in the low double-digit millions of euros.
German CDMO Rentschler Biopharma is to establish manufacturing capacity for advanced therapy medicinal products (ATMPs), including Adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors for clinical trials, at the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult (CGT) site in Stevenage, UK.
Germany’s Merck is investing €18 million at its new site in Tempe, Arizona, USA, including the purchase of the 28,000 m2 production facility leased by previous owner Versum Materials, a business it acquired In 2019.
Shell has announced plans to invest $4-5 billion annually to grow its chemicals and products business as part of an organizational restructuring that aims to accelerate the Anglo-Dutch group’s target of becoming a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050 or sooner.
German biotech CureVac has begun a rolling submission with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for its mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate currently in Phase 2b/3 clinical trials with 35,000 people in Europe and Latin America.
Germany’s Lanxess has signed a binding agreement to acquire 100% of Emerald Kalama Chemical from affiliates of private equity firm American Securities. The US specialty chemicals producer focused mainly on consumer markets last reported sales of $425 million and EBITDA pre-exceptionals of $90 million. Closing is expected in the second half of 2021, subject to regulatory approval.
BioNTech this week kicked off production at the Marburg, Germany, plant it acquired last year from Novartis. The plant will focus on making mRNA batches, the beginning of the manufacturing chain for the Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty that BioNTech is producing and marketing together with US drugmaker Pfizer.
Honeywell Process Solutions (HPS) has won a contract to upgrade Sidi Kerir Petrochemicals Company’s (Sidpec) production capabilities at its flagship complex in Alexandria, Egypt.
The US Food and Drug administration (FDA) has granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the bamlanivimab-etesevimab antibody cocktail made by Eli Lilly for treatment of patients 12 and older who have mild to moderate cases of Covid-19 but are at risk of developing a severe form of the disease.
Spanish chemical company Ercros has launched a three-year strategic plan to improve its sustainability. The plan, which incorporates 20 projects, is based on three dimensions: diversification, digitalization and decarbonization.
China contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) WuXi STA has agreed to buy Bristol Myers Squibb’s manufacturing facility in Couvet, Switzerland, for an undisclosed sum. The site will be WuXi STA’s first facility in Europe. The transaction is expected to complete during the second quarter, subject to the usual conditions and regulatory approvals.
Clariant has signed a cooperation agreement with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) to support research in catalysis and sustainable chemistry. It is providing the university with what it says is “a significant financial contribution” over an initial period of ten years. Terms were not disclosed.
Ireland-based multinational drug company Jazz Pharmaceuticals is to buy UK biopharma GW Pharma for $7.2 billion, creating a leader in neuroscience. The boards of directors of both companies have unanimously approved the deal, which is expected to close in the second quarter, subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals.
Pfizer and BioNTech are accelerating the time it takes to produce a Covid-19 vaccine batch and are aiming to almost cut it in half, Chaz Calitri, vice president of sterile injectables at Pfizer, said in an interview with the US newspaper USA Today.
Indian engineering group Nuberg has been awarded a sulfuric acid project in Egypt. Chemicals and plastics manufacturer Sprea Misr has granted a lumpsum turnkey contract for the project’s engineering, procurement and construction services. The value of the contract was not disclosed.
Austrian chemical producer Borealis has announced plans to divest its nitrogen business, including fertilizer, technical nitrogen and melamine products. The Vienna-based group, which has increasingly shifted its focus to petrochemicals and plastics, has begun consultations with employee representatives.
