European officials recently began talking to companies developing Covid-19 vaccines about supplying the EU’s 27 member states, in hope that none would fall behind bigger markets such as the US, which began making exclusive deals early on. Now Reuters suggests the talks may have hit a snag.
The administration of US president Donald Trump canceled a planned meeting with pharmaceutical industry representatives in Washington on Jul. 28 after none said they planned to attend. The meeting had been called to discuss drug prices after the president announced four executive orders on Jul. 24.
TechnipFMC has announced the first commercial application of its Hummingbird sustainable ethanol-to-ethylene technology, following a licensing deal with LanzaTech. The engineering contractor originally acquired the process from BP Chemicals in June 2016.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) has signed a joint venture agreement with diversified holding company ADQ to create a new chemicals investment platform for funding and developing industrial projects at the proposed Ruwais Derivatives Park.
Through an acquisition dating back 14 years, BASF is embroiled in the same type of litigation trap as compatriot Bayer currently faces. The Ludwigshafen group’s US catalyst subsidiary formerly known as Engelhard, in conjunction with the New Jersey company’s former law firm, has just reached an out-of-court settlement of lawsuits alleging its talc was contaminated with asbestos.
Swiss-headquartered multinational private investor Partners Group has agreed to buy a majority stake in Portuguese crop protection company Rovensa from rival investment group Bridgepoint for about €1 billion.
US biotechs Catalent and Humanigen are extending their standing collaboration on lenzilumab, Humanigen’s proprietary anti-human granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GCM-CSF) monoclonal antibody, with a new supply agreement covering Phase 3 clinical studies.
French chemical producer Arkema is planning to acquire high-performance thermobonding adhesive powders manufacturer Fixatti. The move is aimed at strengthening subsidiary Bostik’s global offering of high value-added technologies in hotmelt adhesive solutions for niche applications in the construction, technical coating, battery, automotive and textile printing industries.
Polynt-Reichhold has announced plans to build a 50,000 t/y maleic anhydride plant at its site in Morris, Illinois, USA. The new facility will support its internal supply of maleic anhydride for US production of composites and other maleic derivative, which it already makes in Europe and Asia.
Roche has announced two separate collaborations, one for an investigational cancer treatment and the other for the discovery of small molecule drugs for treating immune-mediated and neurological diseases.
US chemicals and plastics producer Dow plans to cut its workforce by 6% in response to the coronavirus crisis, CEO Jim Fitterling said on July 23 while presenting financial results for Q2 2020. The plans, he said, reflect management’s expectations of an uneven recovery from the ongoing pandemic.
Celanese has agreed to sell its 45% stake in the Polyplastics joint venture to partner Daicel for $1.575 billion. The deal, which is set to close later in 2020, will give Daicel full control of Polyplastics, which has been run by both companies for more than 50 years.
The world’s governments are signing vaccine supply pacts fast and furiously now, as the world continues to hope an effective prevention against Covid-19 will be found soon. Days after signing on with the UK government, German biotech BioNTech – working with American drugs giant Pfizer – has inked a deal with the US and is reportedly also talking to the EU.
In a more than four-day marathon session, marked in part by acrimonious discussions, EU leaders passed both the planned €750 million coronavirus recovery package and a new €1.1 trillion seven-year budget in the early morning hours of July 21.
Solenis has closed on another deal that boosts its offering to water-intensive industries. Effective Jul. 14, the US specialty chemicals producer completed its acquisition of Mexico's Poliquimicos for an undisclosed sum.
Engineering and construction group KBR has won contracts on two separate projects in China and India. The first will see it supply its proprietary catalyst for Shenghong Refining Petrochemical’s proposed vinyl acetate monomer (VAM) project in Lianyungang, China. The plant will have a capacity of 300,000 t/y – an on-stream date was not revealed.
In the ongoing litigation over whether Monsanto’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer, Bayer has suffered another setback, losing its appeal of the first of three US jury verdicts against it – even though the California Court of Appeals in San Francisco further slashed the 2018 damage award to $20.4 million.
BASF and Thyssenkrupp have signed a joint development agreement to expand their cooperation on the Thyssenkrupp’s Steam Active Reforming (STAR process). The engineering group’s proprietary dehydrogenation process is used to produce propylene from propane feedstocks or iso-butylene from iso-butane feedstocks, using an exceptionally stable catalyst.
DSM has entered into a joint venture with French agro-industrial group Avril to produce canola (rapeseed) proteins to meet growing global demand. The Dutch group will hold 75% of the new company, which is called Olatein, with Avril taking the remaining 25%.
The UK has signed an agreement to secure 90 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines developed by Germany’s BioNTech and France’s Valneva. The deals, for which financial terms were not disclosed, foresee taking 30 million doses from the German and 60 million from the French company.
Ulf Berghult has been appointed as Perstorp’s new CFO as of mid-February. He joins the group from Trelleborg, where he held the position as CFO since 2012.
Azelis has agreed to buy Orokia Israel for an undisclosed sum. The purchase will give the Belgian distributor entry to the “highly attractive” Israeli specialty chemicals market. Part of global investment group EQT, Azelis said the takeover of Orokia is consistent with its strategy of complementing organic growth with strategic acquisitions.
Saudi Aramco said it will reorganize its downstream business by the end of the year to support and enhance integration across the hydrocarbon value chain and better position the group to drive financial performance, value creation and global growth.
Ineos has launched a €3.6 billion leveraged loan – split between euros and US dollars – to refinance existing debt and reduce its term loan margins. Barclays, Citi and JP Morgan are global coordinators, alongside joint book runners BMO, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, ING and Lloyds.
Toward improving the standard of public healthcare across the EU, the European Parliament (EP) has passed a resolution calling for a common standard and a common post-Covid-19 response strategy that would guarantee emergency preparedness including a strategic reserve of pharmaceuticals.
US pharma giant Merck & Co is boosting its cancer drug development, adding two more collaborations – with Foghorn Therapeutics and Zymeworks.
German chemical producer Lanxess is realigning its water treatment business, divesting its reverse osmosis membrane activities to Suez and strengthening its ion exchange resins business to focus on high-end specialty applications.
New structure bundles the CDMO's production areas into the business units Solids, Semi Solids & Liquids and Soft Gel Capsules.
KNM Process Systems (KNMPS), a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysia’s KNM Group, has entered into a heads of agreement to form a joint venture with ADAP Capital to participate in oil, gas and petrochemicals projects in Sarawak, Malaysia.
Cambrex is spending $3.6 million to expand flexible drug substance manufacturing at its site in Karlskoga, Sweden. Engineering has already begun, and work is expected to be completed by November 2020.
As the European Council meets tomorrow, July 17, in Brussels for its first in-person session since the coronavirus forced business, offices and governments into virtual reality, along with budgetary matters the heads of the 27-member states will debate a European Recovery Plan.
Air Liquide will spend over $100 million to install an air separation unit (ASU) on its Gulf Coast pipeline network in Ingleside, Texas, USA, to support a long-term supply agreement with Steel Dynamics Inc (SDI).
Under the name M Lab, Germany’s Merck has opened a new collaborative drug development center in Pudong, Shanghai, China. The facility with lab space of around 10,000 m2 is the largest of the pharmaceutical, chemicals and life science group’s nine such centers worldwide and is located in the heart of Shanghai’s biomedical sciences and research community.
The European Commission has fined Swiss specialty chemicals producer Clariant €155.8 million for its role in an ethylene purchasing scheme that also implicated other chemical producers, including US-based Celanese.
UK-headquartered multinational energy group BP has announced it will inject $70 million later this year into India’s Green Growth Equity Fund (GGEF). Based in Mumbai, GGEF invests in scalable operating companies and platforms across renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy storage, e-mobility, resource conservation and associated value chains.
