Unsurprisingly in view of the surging cases of Covid-19 worldwide, there was little interruption in the flow of vaccine news – or at least talk about vaccines– during the Christmas and New Year break.
In another move to bolster its oncology portfolio, French pharma Servier has agreed to buy Agios Pharmaceuticals’ business, including its commercial, clinical and research-stage portfolio, for up to $2 billion. The transaction includes an upfront payment of $1.8 billion plus a potential $200 million in regulatory milestones and royalties.
German-headquartered multinational chemical distributor Brenntag has agreed to buy Canada’s Alpha Chemical for an undisclosed sum.
BASF has completed the first phase of an MDI expansion at its Geismar, Louisiana, complex in the US and taken an older MDI plant off stream. When the next phase is concluded, in the second half of 2021, the group’s MDI capacity by will rise by about a third.
Dutch renewables specialist Avantium has received a €5.4 million grant from the Netherlands Enterprise Agency to support expansion of the company’s furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) pilot plant at Geleen, the Netherlands.
Eli Lilly is to buy Prevail Therapeutics, a US biotech focused on developing adeno-associated viral vector 9 (AAV9) gene therapies to treat neurodegenerative diseases, in a deal that could be worth as much as $1.04 billion.
Germany-based BioNTech and its Chinese partner Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical have agreed to provide an initial 100 million doses of the Mainz-headquartered company’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate to the People’s Republic of China in 2021, subject to regulatory approval. Initial supply will be from BioNTech’s production facilities in Germany.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) on Dec. 21 provisionally cleared EU-wide use of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine, which will be marketed under the brand name Comirnaty. The Conditional Marketing Authorization paves the way for a rollout across the 27 member states, which is slated to begin by the end of the month and is expected to be a major logistics challenge.
Azelis has entered into an agreement to buy CW Pacific in Australia, including Elle Bee Exports, CW Pacific Specialties and EB1. Financial terms of the deal, which is expected to close within the next two months, were not disclosed.
US chemical recycling technology specialist Agilyx and Brazilian polyolefins producer Braskem have started a feasibility study to explore the development and construction of a plastics recycling project in North America.
To support worldwide development of Covid-19 drugs and vaccines, CDMO Thermo Fisher Scientific is investing in new facilities for its cell and gene therapy portfolio in both the US and Europe.
PPG has entered into an agreement to buy Finnish paints company Tikkurila. The US paints and coatings group has offered €25 per share, equal to a transaction value of about €1.1 billion. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021, subject to the usual conditions.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for US biotech Moderna’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine on Dec.18, a day after the agency’s advisory panel voted 20-0 to recommend it.
Swedish CDMO Recipharm is investing in a capacity expansion at its facility located south of Tel Aviv in Israel, in order to support growing demand for cGMP clinical supply of APIs and intermediates.
Evonik has entered into an agreement to buy the Lactel absorbable polymer business from Durect Corp., a US-based biopharmaceutical company focused on developing drugs for pain and chronic diseases.
German pharmaceuticals, chemicals and life sciences group Merck is broadening its manufacturing footprint in the US, splitting a planned €40 million capital investment between its production facilities in Danvers, Massachusetts, and Jaffrey, New Hampshire.
Lummus Technology and its joint venture partner Chevon Lummus Global (CLG) have won multiple technology contracts from Pertamina Rosneft Pengolahan dan Petrokimia (PRPP), a joint venture between Indonesia’s Pertamina and Russia’s Rosneft Oil, for a grassroots refinery and petrochemical complex in Tuban, Indonesia.
French family-owned CDMO Fareva has signed on to handle fill and finish manufacturing for German biotech CureVac’s mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, at the CDMO’s’ sites at Val-de-Reuil and Pau, both in France.
Confirming speculation earlier in the week, Ineos has announced the appointment of former BP chief financial officer, Brian Gilvary to head a new energy company called Ineos Energy.
ECBF has announced a second closing of the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (ECBF). Reaching €175 million, ECBF has more than doubled its fund-size within two months after starting its operations.
Finnish chemicals company Kemira has formed an exclusive partnership with US-based Danimer Scientific to develop biodegradable aqueous barrier coatings for the paper and board industry.
Industrial gases group Linde has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Italian energy infrastructure company Snam to jointly develop clean hydrogen projects in Europe.
Facing scrutiny from the manufacturers, health ministers of some member states and the public, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has moved the timetable to conclude data analysis of the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 forward by a week.
A Danish group, comprising catalyst and technology company Haldor Topsoe, sustainable energy company Vestas and renewable energy developer Skovgaard Invest, plans to build a green ammonia plant in Western Jutland.
France’s Arkema has announced plans to sell its PMMA engineering plastic arm to Trinseo of the US for an enterprise value of €1,137 million, slightly more than nine times the business’s estimated 2020 EBITDA.
German biotech CureVac has started a Phase 2b/3 clinical trial of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV. Planned to enroll 36,500 participants in Europe and Latin America, the study is aimed at generating data to support approval of the company’s mRNA vaccine next year. A target date has not been disclosed.
Japan’s Mitsubishi Chemical has acquired a greenfield site on the Mississippi River in Geismar, Louisiana, USA, for its proposed 350,000 t/y methyl methacrylate (MMA) plant. It has bought the 67-acre site from synthetic rubber producer Lion Elastomers.
Undeterred by the rejection of its two previous offers, Minerals Technologies submitted a revised and third proposal on Dec. 4 to take over UK specialty chemicals company Elementis.
The US Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 11 awarded an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA-based Covid-19 vaccine. The green light followed a recommendation hours earlier by the US health regulator’s advisory panel, which voted 17 to 4 in favor – with one abstention – to offer the shot to people 16 years of age and older.
UK technology company Johnson Matthey (JM) has won a contract to supply multiple licenses to China’s Ningxia Baofeng Energy to develop five of the largest single-train methanol plants in the world. The contract is the fourth methanol project that Baofeng has awarded to JM.
Germany’s Wacker Chemie is selling its remaining 30.8% stake in semiconductor specialist Siltronic to GlobalWafers. As part of the transaction, which is subject to regulatory approval, the Taiwan-based company will offer Siltronic shareholders a price of €125 per share, with a minimum acceptance threshold of 65% of outstanding shares.
French specialty chemicals producer Arkema has acquired Colorado Photopolymer Solutions. Based in Boulder, Colorado. The US company develops and markets a range of value-added, formulated photopolymer resin solutions for energy curing technology, especially for 3D printing markets.
Danish paints group Flügger has entered into an agreement to take a 70% stake in Eskaro Group, a Swedish-headquartered paint and varnish producer with operations in several eastern European countries.
French technology company Axens, its parent company IFP Energies nouvelles (IFPEN), and US food and agricultural giant Cargill are joining forces to further develop and scale bio-based acrylic acid.
The board of directors at Swiss specialty chemicals producer Clariant has tapped Conrad Keijzer to be the company’s new CEO. The 52-year-old Dutch citizen will take up the job on Jan. 1, 2021, and interim CEO Harriolf Kottmann will again focus on his duties as chairman of the board.
