Business Concentrates BASF to enter medical food market Foray follows similar moves by chemical firms in health and nutrition BASF and the nutrition products distribution firm DIEM Labs have formed an agreement under which the German giant will introduce its first medical food. The pact is one of several recent chemical company efforts to expand in the health and nutrition market. BASF is not providing details on what the product is, but it was developed in the business unit that houses the company’s work in omega-3 chemistry, according to Charlotte Berg-Svendsen, strategic innovation and intellectual property manager for the division. The company describes the product as a “first-to-themarket” medical food product for patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. “With this step, BASF is entering an attractive new market segment in the space between human nutrition and pharma,” says Francois Scheffler, head of the company’s human Several recent deals target the nutrition and pharma nutrition and medical foods market, solutions business. which includes omega-3 capsules. Omega-3 fatty acids, which have several plant and animal sources, including fish and walnuts, are associated with human metabolic and other health benefits. BASF is launching the product in the U.S., Berg-Svendsen says, because of the country’s size and its well-established regulatory framework for medical foods. Under the Orphan Drug Act of 1983, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration defines medical food as food that is formulated to be consumed under the supervision of a physician for the management of a disease or condition for which there are scientifically recognized nutritional requirements. Medical foods, unlike drugs, are exempt from FDA’s premarket review requirement and do not have to be labeled for health claims or nutrient content. Several recent industry deals target the market for medical foods and other nutrition ingredients. Codexis and Nestlé, for example, announced a collaboration last month in which Nestlé’s medical foods business will access Codexis protein-engineering technology to develop enzymes for metabolic disorders. This month, the food ingredients maker Innophos acquired NutraGenesis, a Vermont-based marketer of nutraceutical ingredients, for $28 million. And DuPont’s recent acquisition of FMC’s health and nutrition business bolsters its existing nutrition business by adding food texturants and drug excipients.—RICK MULLIN
12
C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | NOVEMBER 13, 2017
FINANCE
Momentive launches initial public offering After a few rocky years, Momentive Performance Materials has launched an initial public offering of stock set to raise more than $350 million for itself and major shareholders. The silicone maker’s shares will soon start trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol MPMH. The firm itself will issue $250 million worth of shares, while major shareholders will float about $100 million worth. Overall, the offering will give Momentive a market capitalization of about $1.4 billion. It will trim the stake of the company’s largest shareholder, the private equity firm Apollo Management, from 40% to 27%. Momentive is the world’s third-largest producer of silicones and silanes after Dow Corning and Wacker Chemie. It had sales of $2.2 billion in 2016 but generated an operating loss of $23 million. Performance additives, a business that supplies silane crosslinkers and additives for personal care products and urethanes, accounted for 68% of Momentive’s sales. The company’s NXT silanes, which are used with silica fillers in fuel-efficient tires, are part of this business. The company recently purchased Sea Lion Technology, which had been making the product under contract. Silicones make up another quarter of Momentive’s sales. This unit manufactures GE-branded sealants and caulks. The balance of its sales come from quartz. The company was General Electric’s silicones business until Apollo purchased it in 2006 for $3.2 billion. It was set to merge with sister company Momentive Specialty Chemicals, now Hexion, and go public, but that plan was canceled in 2012. Unable to keep up with its large debt burden, Momentive Performance Materials entered bankruptcy briefly in 2014. CEO John G. Boss, however, contends that Momentive’s fortunes are turning around. The firm just wrapped up a restructuring program that is set to save $48 million annually. Momentive will use the proceeds from the initial public offering to pay down debt.—ALEX TULLO
ENERGY STORAGE
Lamborghini’s latest concept car is a batteryless electric racer. Energy to drive the electric motors mounted on each wheel of the Terzo Millennio will come from carbon fibers incorporated into the car’s structure and body panels. The fibers will act as supercapacitors, getting rid of bulky batteries. Lamborghini is working with MIT on the vehicle, which it admits “is impossible today” but could become a reality in the future.
C R E D I T: S H UT T E RSTO CK ( P I LLS ) ; LA MB O RG HI NI ( CA R )
FOOD INGREDIENTS
