Business Concentrates FOSSIL FUELS
▸ AkzoNobel issues profits warning AkzoNobel has warned investors it does not expect to increase pretax profits this year by more than $120 million, as previously promised, because of difficulties in its coatings business. The firm made the announcement before the official appointment of Thierry Vanlancker as CEO at a general meeting. Vanlancker has unveiled plans to restructure the coatings business, which he says is experiencing raw material cost inflation, temporary manufacturing disruption, and tough market conditions in some segments. Separately, AkzoNobel’s chief financial officer, Maëlys Castella, has stepped down temporarily for health reasons.—ALEX SCOTT
BIOBASED CHEMICALS
▸ Braskem polymer gets a new use Buhbli Organics, a supplier of bath salts sold at more than 1,000 Walmart stores, plans to use Braskem’s biobased polyethylene to make pouches for its Himalayan bath salts. In Brazil, Braskem runs
Buhbli’s bath salts will be packaged in a biobased polyethylene bag. a process that converts ethanol made from sugarcane into ethylene and then polyethylene. Every ton of the polyethylene made this way sequesters 3 tons of carbon dioxide, Braskem says.—ALEX TULLO
MATERIALS
▸ More investment in synthetic suede Asahi Kasei will double production capacity for its Lamous synthetic suede to 6 million m² per year at a plant in Nobeoka, Japan. The new capacity is set
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C&EN | CEN.ACS.ORG | SEPTEMBER 18, 2017
Air Products invests in Chinese syngas project Air Products will raise by $500 million its investment in a joint venture with Lu’An Mining in China’s northern province of Shanxi. Air Products had already committed $300 million to the venture by agreeing to build four air separation units at the site. With its investment at the site growing to $800 million, Air Products will get a 60% stake in the venture, in which it will also be responsible for the production of syngas. Shanxi is one of China’s main coal mining provinces. The venture, Lu’An Clean Energy, will use syngas generated by gasifying coal supplied by Lu’An Mining to produce chemicals and liquid fuels. Air Products has been eager to invest in China in recent months. In December, the U.S. firm made a $1.5 billion takeover offer for Yingde Gases, one of China’s largest industrial gas producers, which at the time was listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Air Products eventually lost out to PAG, a Hong Kong private equity firm that made a rival bid.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
to come on-line in 2019. Demand for the material to cover car interiors has been strong recently, the firm says. Earlier this year, another Japanese firm, Toray Industries, announced a $320 million investment to expand synthetic suede capacity at its Alcantara subsidiary in Italy.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
FOOD INGREDIENTS
▸ Companies pair up for natural colors The Japanese pigment firm DIC and Fermentalg, a French microalgae specialist, have signed a multiyear agreement to develop natural food colorings. Fermentalg will contribute its biotechnology platform and bank of microalgae strains, while DIC will bring applied research and commercial expertise to the partnership. Microalgae-derived phycocyanin is the main blue pigment used in natural food coloring. DIC says The candy it supplies 90% of the company Mars plans to natural blue coloring phase out use market from a facility in California.—MELODY of artificial
colors.
BOMGARDNER
ENERGY STORAGE
▸ SQM adds Australia to lithium portfolio SQM will spend $110 million to acquire half of an Australian lithium mining project being developed by Kidman Resources. SQM expects that the project will eventually have 40,000 metric tons per year of lithium chemical capacity. SQM also has lithium projects in Argentina and Chile, where it is based. SQM and other firms are boosting capacity to meet demand for lithium chemicals used in electric vehicle batteries (see page 21). SQM expects global lithium demand to double every five years through 2025.—MICHAEL MCCOY
AGRICULTURE
▸ Bayer, Ginkgo launch microbe company Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks are forming a company to exploit the potential of synthetic biology to improve microbes that help plants grow. The as yet unnamed firm launches with a $100 million investment from the parent companies and Viking Global Investors. Plants such as soybeans, peas, and peanuts benefit from symbiotic microbes that fix nitrogen from the air and make it available to plant roots. The new company seeks to boost the abilities of these microbes. It will be based at Gingko’s Boston labs and the West Sacramen-
C R E D I T: BRAS K EM ( BAT H SA LTS ) ; EVA N -A MO S / WI KI MED I A CO M MO N S (M & M S)
FINANCE
to, Calif., home of Bayer’s plant biologic activities.—MELODY BOMGARDNER
INSTRUMENTATION
er viral infections. Abivax’s lead candidate, ABX464, is in Phase II clinical trials as an HIV/AIDS treatment.—MICHAEL MCCOY
EMPLOYMENT
▸ Shimadzu buys standards specialist
▸ Alexion cuts 20% and moves to Boston
Shimadzu has acquired France-based AlsaChim, a maker of isotope-labeled analytical and reference standards used in clinical trial and diagnostic applications. Financial details were not disclosed. Shimadzu says the deal will help drive sales of its mass spectrometers and increase sales of its existing reagents and diagnostic kits.—MARC REISCH
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
▸ Evotec and Abivax in small-molecule pact
Rare-disease drugmaker Alexion Pharmaceuticals will cut 20% of its workforce, about 600 jobs, and move its headquarters to Boston, leaving about 450 positions behind in New Haven, Conn. The move comes amid controversy over aggressive sales practices for Alexion’s drug Soliris, which treats rare blood diseases, that led to the ousting of its CEO. The downsizing includes the shuttering of a plant in Smithfield, R.I., and the end of partnerships with Moderna Therapeutics and Arbutus Biopharma.—RYAN CROSS
Schultz will likely face discussions about dividing the firm into two entities, one focused on generics and the other on new drug development. Lundbeck’s stock fell on the news, while Teva’s began rebounding after a 15-year low.—RYAN CROSS
DRUG DEVELOPMENT
▸ Janssen drops hepatitis C treatment
GENERICS The contract research firm Evotec will work with Abivax, a French biotech company, to develop CF3O new treatments for viral diseasN N H es. Abivax has Cl developed a ABX464 library of more than 1,000 small molecules designed to inhibit mRNA biogenesis. At its facility in Toulouse, France, Evotec will optimize Abivax’s drug candidates and help develop new drugs for influenza, Dengue, and oth-
▸ Teva snags new CEO from Lundbeck The indebted generics giant Teva Pharmaceutical has ended a seven-month search for its fourth CEO in six years, nabbing Kåre Schultz from the same role at the neuroscience drug developer Lundbeck and quelling rumors that AstraZeneca’s CEO would take the job. Schultz will move to Teva’s headquarters in Israel, where he
Business Roundup
C R E D I T: LU N D BEC K
▸ Solvay will start producing polyetherketoneketone (PEKK) at its site in Augusta, Ga., next year to meet growing demand from the aerospace industry. The firm already makes polyetheretherketone (PEEK) and other high-end polymers at the facility. ▸ Clariant has formed a joint venture with Tiangang Auxiliary to make ultraviolet light stabilizers in China’s Hebei province. A multi-million-dollar facility, to come on-line in 2019, will meet demand for
the stabilizers from China’s textile and auto industries. ▸ Bayer has sold 19 million shares in Covestro, its former materials and plastics business, for $1.4 billion. The sell-off reduces Bayer’s stake in Covestro by 9.4% to 31.5%. ▸ MycoTechnology, a food technology start-up based in Aurora, Colo., has raised $35 million from undisclosed investors in a second round of funding. The company’s organic, powdered mushroom mycelium product is
Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen division says it will halt development of the hepatitis C treatment JNJ-4178, citing rising numbers of existing therapies. JNJ-4178 is a cocktail of three small-molecule antivirals: AL-335, obtained when Janssen acquired Alios BioPharma for $1.75 billion; simeprevir, licensed from Medivir; and odalasvir from Achillion Pharmaceuticals. Share prices at Medivir and Achillion fell by double digits after the news. Janssen says it will shift emphasis toward hepatitis B therapies.—RYAN CROSS
used to block bitter flavors of foods, beverages, and natural noncaloric sweeteners. ▸ Oxis Energy, a British lithium-sulfur battery materials developer, will work with NASA to build battery cells for aircraft designed for terrestrial and planetary missions. Both organizations will work together to reduce battery weight. ▸ Gridtential, a Bay Area battery start-up, has raised $11 million from 1955 Capital and U.S. and Chinese battery manufacturers in its second round of funding. The firm’s automotive and station-
ary-energy-storage batteries are similar to lead acid types but use plated silicon wafers in place of lead grids. ▸ Boehringer Ingelheim will work with the Danish biotech firm Gubra to develop peptide compounds that treat obesity. Gubra could reap as much as $300 million in up-front and milestone payments. ▸ Bayer and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have formed a five-year collaboration to develop therapies for kidney diseases. Their goal is to discover two investigational new drugs for people with end-stage renal failure.
SEPTEMBER 18, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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