AGRICULTURE
▸ Bayer ups animal health, warns about ag Bayer will spend $105 million to expand animal health product manufacturing at its Kiel, Germany, location. The investment will increase output of flea and tick collars and expand production of pipettes filled with parasite-killing fluid for pet protection. The Kiel site makes 60% of Bayer’s animal health products. Separately, Bayer disclosed that poor performance in Brazil from its crop science division will hit its earnings by $350 million to $450 million this year.—ALEX TULLO
BIOLOGICS
▸ Celgene and BeiGene join for cancer drug Celgene and BeiGene will jointly develop BeiGene’s investigational anti-programmed cell death protein 1 inhibitor, BGB-A317, in the U.S., Europe, Japan, and the rest of the world outside Asia, where BeiGene will retain rights. BGB-A317 is an antibody that treats solid tumors. Celgene will pay BeiGene a $263 million license fee and acquire a 5.9% stake in the Chinese firm. BeiGene will acquire Celgene’s operations in China and gain a license to com-
mercialize Celgene’s approved therapies in China.—MICHAEL MCCOY
START-UPS
▸ Developer grows agriculture center Alexandria Real Estate Equities is building what it calls a megacampus for agriculture technology tenants in Research Triangle Park, N.C. RTP is already an R&D hotbed for the agribusiness giants BASF, Bayer, and Syngenta. Alexandria says smaller companies will be able to locate on its 93,000-m2 campus, which will include offices, labs, and greenhouses, along with a collaboration-focused amenities center. Initial tenants include Alexandria’s AgTech Accelerator and Boragen, a start-up working with boron-based small molecules for plant and animal health.—MELODY BOMGARDNER
MATERIALS
▸ Military may get mushroom buildings Ecovative Design, a Green Island, N.Y.based firm that develops structural materials out of organic matter bound with fungal mycelium, has been awarded up to
Business Roundup
C R E D I T: ECOVAT I V E D ES I G N
▸ Lenzing plans to build a 100,000-metric-ton-per-year plant for its Tencel cellulosic fiber in Thailand by the end of 2020. Late last year, Lenzing said it will build a $300 million Tencel plant in Mobile, Ala. The fiber is used in apparel, home furnishing, and other applications. ▸ PolyOne is selling the plastic sheet and packaging business it acquired when it bought Spartech for $393 million in 2013. Private equity firm Arsenal Capital Partners will pay $115 million for the business, which represents about 70% of what was once Spartech, accord-
ing to the investment firm Jefferies. ▸ AkzoNobel will spend more than $20 million to increase production of expandable microspheres in Stockvik, Sweden. The gasfilled thermoplastic balls expand to up to 60 times their volume for use as insulating or filling material. ▸ Kemira has acquired liquid fingerprinting technology from the Finnish start-up Aqsens. Kemira says the technology, based on enhanced time-resolved fluorescence, will allow it to rapidly check polymeric
Ecovative Design uses mycelium to grow structural materials. $9.1 million from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The funds will support Ecovative’s work with researchers at Columbia University and MIT to develop self-repairing materials that can be used to grow structures in place, such as military bases in the field. The four-year project aims to demonstrate commercial-scale manufacturing.—MELODY
BOMGARDNER
DRUG DISCOVERY
▸ GSK in computing pact with Exscientia GlaxoSmithKline has partnered with Exscientia to use artificial intelligence to develop small molecules against up to 10 drug targets. Exscientia seeks to use AI to design molecules with a desired balance of potency, selectivity, and pharmacokinetics. GSK will provide the firm with research funding and up to $42 million in milestone payments as molecules reach preclinical studies. In May, Exscientia joined with Sanofi to develop bispecific small molecules against metabolic diseases targets.—LISA JARVIS
scale-inhibitor concentrations during oil-field water treatment.
PeptiDream to discover molecules that bind to it.
▸ PTT Global Chemical has purchased a 68-hectare parcel on the Ohio River in Belmont County, Ohio, from FirstEnergy. The company may use the land to build a new ethylene cracker. It expects to decide on the project later this year.
▸ Evonik Industries and Sinopec Beijing Research Institute of Chemical Industry will build a process development lab in China for Evonik’s organic solvent nanofiltration membrane technology. The membranes are used in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and food industries.
▸ Heptares Therapeutics has teamed with PeptiDream to develop small molecules and peptides against an undisclosed GPCR receptor relevant in inflammatory diseases. Heptares’s technology will help elucidate three-dimensional details of the GPCR target, allowing
▸ Nucelis and sister firm Cibus, both biotechnology trait developers for microbes and plants, have partnered with Mexican manufacturer Fermic on fermentation routes to food and personal care ingredients. Their first product is vitamin D2, a plantbased form of vitamin D.
JULY 10, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
15
