Germany’s Federal Court of Justice has this time ruled in Solvay’s favor on a patent invalidation case brought by Neo Chemicals & Oxides Europe in a dispute that has raged for several years. The ruling reverses a decision made in January 2019 that revoked the German designation of a key Solvay patent on a cerium oxide-based product that is used to reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions in diesel engines.
The European Commission has decided against renewing its Covid-19 vaccine supply contracts with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson when they expire at the end of the current year, Italian newspaper La Stampa has reported, citing an unnamed source from the Italian health ministry.
Compass Minerals, a US producer of minerals and plant nutrition products, has finalized two separate sale agreements with ICL and Koch Agronomic Services for its South American and North American businesses, respectively. The deals follow a detailed analysis by Compass Minerals of its portfolio.
Exxon Mobil is exploring a sale of its Advanced Elastomer Systems (AES) division, potentially valuing it at around $800 million including debt, Reuters has reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
US health authorities paused the rollout of Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine on Apr. 13 after reports of six serious blood clots occurring in nearly 7 million people vaccinated. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said they would release guidance following an emergency meeting on Apr. 14.
Russian fertilizer producer Acron is spending $190 million to revamp two ammonia units at its Novgorod site. Once the upgrades are complete in 2023, the company’s total ammonia production will increase by 375,000 t/y.
DSM has invested $100 million in the launch of Hologram Sciences, a health tech company that will provide consumers with personalized nutrition solutions.
In partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), French drugmaker Sanofi is planning to invest more than €400 million to create what it said is a “unique vaccine production center that pushes the boundaries of operations through cutting edge manufacturing and digital technologies.” The new site will mainly supply the Asian region and complement existing manufacturing capability in Europe and North America.
US private equity group One Rock Capital Partners has completed its acquisition of UK plastics distributor Distrupol from US chemicals distributor Univar – the plans were announced in late January. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
US CDMO Charles River Laboratories has acquired Retrogenix, a UK-based early-stage contract research organization that provides specialized bioanalytical services, for approximately £35 million in cash. The transaction also includes a potential additional payment of up to £5 million based on future performance.
Johnson & Johnson has joined AstraZeneca in the negative spotlight, giving the latter some likely welcome relief. After studying a spate of usually rare blood-clotting issues in people receiving the Anglo-British drugmaker’s Covid-19 vaccine, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is now looking at similar incidents with the US healthcare group’s single-dose shot.
Oqema, a Germany-based distributor of commodity and specialty chemicals, has acquired Spain’s Proquibasa. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
French multinational pharma Sanofi will invest more than €600 million in a new vaccine manufacturing plant at its existing site in Toronto, Canada.
Lonza Specialty Ingredients (LSI), a division of Swiss-based CDMO Lonza, has sealed a deal to manufacture “high volumes” of Prussian blue materials to be used in energy group Natron’s electrodes for sodium-ion batteries.
Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV), a subsidiary of US-headquartered multinational energy company Occidental, and bio-engineering start-up Cemvita Factory plan to build and operate a pilot plant to test their jointly developed bio-ethylene technology.
New US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Michael Regan, sworn in to his office on Mar. 17, has begun removing experts and lobbyists from industry who were appointed by former president Donald Trump to two key advisory panels.
The more things change, the more they stay the same, at least in pandemic times, in Europe. After its second look at an unusual string of rare blood clotting incidents, mostly in younger women receiving AstraZeneca's Covid-19 vaccine, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the EU’s drugs regulator, said on Apr. 7 it believes there is probably a “strong association” but stressed once again that the benefits of vaccination outweigh any risks.
Italian engineering contractor Maire Tecnimont has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with India’s Adani Enterprises to explore the development of industrial projects based on renewable feedstock. The projects will focus on producing chemicals, ammonia and hydrogen using technologies and project development capabilities offered by Maire Tecnimont’s subsidiaries NextChem, Stamicarbon and MET Development.
In its “best and final offer,” US investment group 40 North Management has raised its bid for W. R. Grace to $70/share in cash, representing a purchase price of about $4.6 billion. Grace said it would review the letter “in a timely manner,” adding that it still required some information that it requested from 40 North on Mar. 25.
Under an expanded agreement, US contract manufacturer Catalent is dedicating a new high-speed vial filling line at its Bloomington, Indiana, biologics facility to the manufacture of Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine and potentially to other investigational programs.
The Chinese government has approved the merger of state-owned enterprises ChemChina and Sinochem. The State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission (Sasac) gave its approval on Mar. 31, stating that the companies will undergo a joint restructuring and become subsidiaries of a new and yet-to-be-named holding company. A timetable for the restructuring has not been disclosed.
With the backing of the US government, Johnson & Johnson has taken over “full responsibility" for manufacturing at the Bayview plant operated by its Baltimore, Maryland-based vaccine ingredients supplier, US biotech Emergent BioSolutions.
Chinese vaccine manufacturer Sinovac has doubled projected annual output of its Covid-19 shot to 2 billion doses per year, up from the 1 billion estimated in February this year when it received Chinese government approval. The company said last week it had started up a new commercial plant.
Celanese has announced a three-year plan to expand engineered materials compounding capacities in China and India to support the anticipated growth of its business. The US-based company plans to add about 52,000 t/y of compounding and long-fiber thermoplastics capacity in Nanjing, China, by the second half of 2023.
Germany’s BioNTech and US drugmaker Pfizer have again corrected upward the 2021 production forecast for their Covid-19 vaccine marketed as Comirnaty. The partners now say they will manufacture an additional 500 million doses this year, lifting the output target to 2.5 billion doses. After last year’s pledge to produce 1.3 billion doses this year, in January they raised the target to 2 billion.
Saudi Aramco and Dow have amended the shareholders agreement for their Sadara Chemical joint venture with the partners taking on direct responsibility for marketing their shares of the output.
German specialty chemicals producer Lanxess is establishing a foothold for itself in battery chemistry. The company has inked a deal to cooperate with Guangzhou Tinci Materials Technology Co. (Tinci), a China-based global manufacturer of lithium-ion battery materials.
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the UK’s largest drugmaker, has reached an agreement in principle with Novavax and the UK Government Vaccines Taskforce to produce up to 60 million doses of the US biotech’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, NVX-CoV2373, in England to boost its vaccination drives. A final agreement specifying terms and conditions is to follow.
US potash and phosphates producer Mosaic has agreed to collaborate with compatriot company AgBiome to discover, develop and launch novel biological approaches to enhancing soil fertility. The partnerships will leverage AgBiome’s proprietary Genesis platform.
French multinational gases group Air Liquide has announced what it termed “ambitious” environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives to act for a sustainable future. The objectives include firm targets to reduce CO2 emissions and accelerate hydrogen development.
Celanese has announced a slate of plant expansions, new builds and debottlenecking projects across Europe and Asia to beef up its vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) and emulsion polymers output.
Clariant Catalysts has opened a new R&D center at its One Clariant Campus (OCC) in Shanghai. The research unit is part of the Swiss specialty chemicals producer’s new Innovation Center China in the east coast metropolis. The company counts itself among a handful of international players to have built a full-fledged comprehensive catalyst research unit in China.
The European Parliament (EP) has adopted the EU4Health program for 2021-2027 put forward by the European Commission in May 2020 as a response to the Covid-19 crisis. The plenary vote earlier this month confirmed a provisional agreement with the European Council aimed at preparing the EU’s health systems for future health threats and pandemics.
AstraZeneca has released an updated statement on the efficacy of its Covid-19 vaccine after US health authorities criticized its analysis of US Phase 3 trial results as confusing and suggested that the company might be combining results from different phases.
Lummus Technology has won a contract for its proprietary EBOne ethylbenzene process from a firm in China’s Jiangsu province that will build a unit for 508,000 t/y of EB. A start-up date was not revealed. Lummus said the Chinese company has previously licensed its technologies, including the BP paraxylene process and Chevron Lummus Global’s Isocracking technology.
