based on tissue harvested from plastic surgery patients. Genoskin is a spin-off from the French National Center for Scientific Research and Paul Sabatier University.—MARC REISCH
GREEN CHEMISTRY
▸ BASF works on CO2 to methanol
facilities in the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. The new company is backed by the investment firm Gilde Healthcare and the pension fund service provider PGGM. It plans further expansion through acquisition and organic growth. “The pharmaceutical industry is demanding a huge bandwidth of highly complex chemistry solutions,” says Syncom CEO Ton Vries.—
RICK MULLIN
BIOLOGICS BASF and Germany’s BSE Engineering will work together on converting carbon dioxide and excess electricity into methanol. BSE is developing a process to generate hydrogen through electrolysis of water. In a second step, BASF catalysts will convert CO2 and hydrogen into methanol. Facilities will be located next to major sources of CO2 emissions, such as power plants. BSE says it has been developing its technology for the past four years and that construction of the first plants will start soon.—ALEX SCOTT
▸ Big pharma partners sign Parkinson’s pact
OUTSOURCING
MCCOY
▸ CROs Mercachem, Syncom to merge The Dutch pharmaceutical contract research organizations (CROs) Mercachem and Syncom have merged to form Mercachem-Syncom, which has 300 employees—250 of whom are chemists—at
AstraZeneca and Takeda Pharmaceutical are joining to develop MEDI1341, an antibody from AstraZeneca intended to treat Parkinson’s disease. MEDI1341 binds to and inhibits α-synuclein, a protein that accumulates in the nerve cells of people with Parkinson’s. Takeda will pay AstraZeneca up to $400 million. AstraZeneca will lead Phase I clinical trials, which are set to start later this year.—MICHAEL
BIOLOGICS
▸ Merck KGaA buys chromatography firm Merck KGaA has acquired Natrix Separations, an Ontario-based producer of hy-
Business Roundup
C R E D I T: ME RC K KGA A
▸ Eastman Chemical will expand capacity for cyclohexanedimethanol (CHDM), a polyester resin modifier, by 15,000 metric tons per year at its plant in Kingsport, Tenn. Eastman says the 18-month project will help meet growing demand for products such as its Tritan copolyester. ▸ Dow Chemical plans to acquire an additional 15% in the petrochemical maker Sadara Chemical from its partner Saudi Aramco, making the firms equal shareholders. The deal will occur after Dow-
A Natrix hydrogel membrane.
DuPont spins off its materials company in about 18 months. ▸ Shin-Etsu Chemical will invest $22 million to expand silicones capacity at its plant in Akron, Ohio. Since 2014, the Japanese company has also expanded capacity in Thailand and Japan, built a silicones R&D center in Japan, and opened a silicones support center in New Jersey. ▸ Merck KGaA and partners in the electronics industry have set up an incubator lab for start-up electronics companies in Yavne, Israel. The
drogel membrane products for single-use chromatography. Natrix markets both anion- and cation-exchange membranes and also is developing products to enable single-use biologic drug purification. Merck says Natrix’s technology will increase efficiency and reduce processing time for customers making monoclonal antibodies and vaccines.—ALEX SCOTT
DRUG DISCOVERY
▸ Celgene and Forma extend discovery pact Celgene will put another $195 million into Forma Therapeutics to expand their small-molecule drug discovery partnership to include targets in the areas of protein homeostasis, inflammation,immunology, and neurodegeneration. Forma is based in Watertown, Mass., with chemistry operations in Branford, Conn. The two firms established their pact in 2013 and extended it in 2014.—MICHAEL
MCCOY
partners will invest about $25 million in the project, called PMatX. It will run for an initial period of three years. ▸ Frutarom Industries has acquired 9% of Enzymotec for $24 million, bringing its holdings in the maker of lipid active ingredients to 19%. Frutarom now plans to make a tender offer to buy the remaining 81% of Enzymotec from shareholders. ▸ Lonza’s drug product services arm will expand its facility in Basel for services including formulation development, drug product analytics, and quality control. The
expansion will create 50 new positions. ▸ ImmunoGen has sold Jazz Pharmaceuticals the right to opt into commercialization of two hematology-related antibody-drug conjugates. ImmunoGen will get $75 million up front and up to $100 million in other payments. ▸ AstraZeneca and Berg, a drug discovery informatics firm, will work together to identify targets and therapies for neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease. Boston-based Berg applies probability-based algorithms to patient genotypes and phenotypes.
SEPTEMBER 4, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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