The EU has clinched the deal with vaccine team Pfizer/BioNtech hinted at in mid-April. European Commmission president Ursula von der Leyen late last week informed member states about the agreement that foresees delivery of 1.8 billion additional doses of the duo’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine though 2023. This includes an initial 900 million doses with an option for another 900 million.
The International Society for Pharmaceutical Engineering (ISPE) announced the 2021 Facility of the Year Awards (FOYA) Category Winners—including two winners of Special Recognition Awards for Operational Agility: Covid-19 Impact.
US plastics and rubber producer Trinseo has signed a letter of intent to collaborate with Russia’s ETB Catalytic Technologies to develop bio-based 1,3-butadiene, a key feedstock for making tires.
US pharma giant Pfizer has acquired privately owned Amplyx Pharmaceuticals for an undisclosed sum. With the purchase of the clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company based at San Diego, California, the New York drugmaker will expand its anti-infectives pipeline with addition of novel antifungal Phase 2 candidate, Fosmanogepix (APX001).
Swiss CDMO Lonza and US vaccine maker Moderna have extended and deepened their collaboration on the US biotech’s mRNA- based Covid-19 shot. The new agreement, which calls for the installation of three new production lines and a doubling of existing drug substance production at Lonza’s Visp, Switzerland, site, builds on a 10-year pact signed last year.
BASF has broken ground for the third phase of its new Innovation Campus Shanghai. Construction work on the expansion, which will add a further research and development building and a new R&D workshop building to the campus, is expected to be completed by the end of 2022 and bring its total investment in the Chinese technology showcase to around €280 million.
US drugmaker Bristol Myers Squibb has chosen Leiden in the Netherlands for a new cell therapy manufacturing site in Europe as it continues to expand and develop treatments for patients with aggressive hematological cancers.
Russian companies Sibur and TAIF are merging their petrochemical businesses in a move they said will create one of the world’s top five producers of polyolefins and rubber products. The merger, which remains subject to regulatory approval and the completion of relevant corporate procedures, could be finalized by the end of this year.
Arkema has confirmed it is on track to begin production of its polyamide 11 high performance polymer and feedstock aminoundecanoic acid at a new plant on Singapore’s Jurong Island in the first half of 2022. The project announced in 2017 calls for a 50% increase in its global PA 11 capacity. Starting material for the biopolymer is castor oil.
As India’s Covid-19 infections soar and the death toll nears 200,000, wealthier countries – including the US, UK, Germany, France and Australia – are rushing supplies of oxygen, ventilators and protective gear to the subcontinent.
German drug discovery and development group Evotec has started building a biologics manufacturing facility at its Campus Curie site in Toulouse, France.
The European Commission has confirmed rumors that it has initiated legal action against AstraZeneca for failing to meet contractual obligations for deliveries of Its Covid-19 vaccine. Health commissioner Stella Kyriakides said the action is being taken jointly with all 27 member states.
The CPhI executive post-pandemic pharma survey, produced by Informa Markets as part of the CPhI Pharma 2021 Report, predicts that pandemic supply chain issues have further cemented a push for repatriated manufacturing globally. The findings suggest that over the next 5 years, governments and companies will gradually look to reduce complexity and increase regional self-reliance.
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) announced on Apr. 23 that they would lift the two-week pause on administration of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for all adults and require a warning label about the possibility of a rare but dangerous blood clotting disorder combined with a low level of platelets.
Australian companies Orocobre and Galaxy Resources have agreed to a “merger of equals” that they said would create the world’s fifth-largest manufacturer of lithium chemicals. The deal, valued at A$4 billion, has been unanimously approved by the boards of both companies and is expected to complete by August 2021.
Swiss CDMO Lonza is investing 200 million Swiss francs at its Alpine site in Visp to build a new manufacturing complex for a long-term biopharmaceutical manufacturing partner. Lonza said the project is being supported by an unquantified capital contribution from the undisclosed partner.
Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever has partnered with recycled carbon technology specialist LanzaTech and glycols producer India Glycols to produce a surfactant from industrial carbon emissions.
DuPont is investing approximately $30 million in a new car adhesives plant in Zhangjiagang, Jiangsu province, China. Construction on the facility at the Yangtze River International Chemical Industrial Park in the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone will start in Q3 2021, with start-up scheduled for early 2023.
German specialty chemicals producer Evonik delivered the first batches of lipids for BioNTech’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine on Apr. 22, months earlier than planned. Deliveries were expected to start in mid-2021 but the company said it was able to set up production in just eight weeks at its complex in Hanau, Germany, and meet the high-quality requirements for the component.
UK specialty chemicals company Elementis has been the subject of another attempted takeover – its fourth in under six months – but this time from US rival, Innospec.
US industrial gases specialist Air Products has bought the remaining 50% equity stake in a gasification technology joint venture it picked up in the 2019 acquisition of GE’s gasification business and technology. Financial terms of the arrangement with China Shenhua Coal to Liquid and Chemical Co., part of China Energy Group, were not disclosed.
Johnson & Johnson will now resume the rollout of its Covid-19 vaccine in the EU, with the shot carrying a label warning that blood clots are a possible risk. The announcement came after the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said on Apr. 20 that the benefits of the vaccine exceed the risk but mandated the label.
Virtual specialty materials manufacturer Aceto has acquired A&C, a producer of specialty excipients, buffers and process solutions, for an undisclosed sum.
US biotech companies Antheia, Genomatica and Ginkgo Bioworks have backed the launch of the Synthetic Biology (SynBio) Coalition to promote investment and support for the US synthetic biology industry.
As part of his proposal for discretionary spending in the US government’s fiscal year 2022, President Joe Biden has proposed $6.5 billion in funding to establish a new federal agency within the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to drive bio-pharmaceutical innovation in areas such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer’s disease.
Switzerland, as one of the leading global biotech hubs, was well positioned to facilitate international collaborations and develop solutions to combat the Covid-19 pandemic, and the sector saw record levels of investment in 2020. This is the bottom line of the latest edition of the Swiss Biotech Report, published by the Swiss Biotech Association in conjunction with EY and eight other partner organizations.
The rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine could be resumed starting Apr. 23, Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious-disease expert and chief advisor to US president Joe Biden on pandemic-related issues, has told US media.
The Italian government has held talks with several pharmaceutical companies, including Moderna, Novartis, CureVac and Italy’s ReiThera, about producing mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccines in the country, the Financial Times (FT) has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
German energy group Uniper is carrying out a feasibility study on establishing a national hub for hydrogen in Wilhelmshaven. Plans include an import terminal, which would be equipped with an ammonia splitter for producing green hydrogen. It will also be connected to the planned hydrogen network.
Swiss CDMO Lonza and China pharma Junshi Biosciences have expanded their biologics collaboration. Lonza will leverage its global network and local operation capabilities to help Junshi Biosciences accelerate the development of drugs in its pipeline and promote their adoption across international markets.
Former Braskem CEO José Carlos Grubisich has pleaded guilty in a US court to conspiring to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) as well as provisions of that act by failing to accurately certify the Brazilian chemical producer’s financial reports.
Azelis has agreed to buy the distribution assets of Indian firms Spectrum Chemicals and Nortons Exim. The transaction is expected to close in the coming two weeks. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Activist hedge fund Elliott Management, also known as Elliott Associates or Elliott Advisers, has a new target – GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Over the past decade, the fund has gone after chemical companies DuPont, Bayer and most recently Akzo Nobel, with mixed results.
Denmark has taken what it said was a final decision to discontinue using the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in its national inoculation campaign after an unusual string of rare blood clots. A discussion has begun over what to do with the remaining supply.
UK CDMO Sterling Pharma Solutions has acquired compatriot firm ADC Biotechnology, a specialist in antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). The acquisition follows Sterling’s “significant” investment in the business last December, which was made with a view to acquiring ADC Bio in the first quarter of 2021.
