BUSINESS CONCENTRATES
EXXONMOBIL ADVANCES QATAR CHEMICAL PLAN
WOOD-TREATING PACT IS FORMED
ExxonMobil Chemical and Qatar Petroleum have agreed to "progress studies" on a $3 billion petrochemical complex in Ras Laffan, Qatar. The facility would include a 1.3 million-metric-ton-per-year ethylene cracker, as well as downstream polyethylene and ethylene glycol units. It is expected to be completed in 2012. ExxonMobil will join other foreign petrochemical investors in the Persian Gulf state. Chevron Phillips Chemical and Qatar Petroleum started up an ethylene-based complex there in 2003. Total Petrochemicals, Chevron Phillips Chemical, and Qatar Petroleum are involved in another ethylene complex, and Shell Chemicals is considering a joint venture in the country.
AKZO LICENSES PRIMER TECHNOLOGY Akzo Nobel has licensed technology from North Dakota State University Research Foundation allowing it to formulate magnesiumbased primers for aluminum aircraft. Akzo Nobel can Akzo says the new nowformulate effective chromate- Paniers perform as we free aerospace U a s chromateprimers. based primers, which are coming under increasing regulatory pressure in both the U.S. and Europe.
INEOS DETAILS ITS BIODIESEL AMBITIONS Ineos Enterprises plans to produce 2 million metric tons of biodiesel annually by 2012, with some 1.2 million tons by 2010. The U.K.-based chemical company aims to become "the first truly Pan-European supplier of biodiesel." The firm says a previously announced biodiesel plant at its Grangemouth, Scotland, refinery will have at least 500,000 metric tons of capacity and will open by 2008 at a cost of more than $165 million. That plant is receiving "significant" support from the Scottish government, Ineos says. Other plants could be built at Ineos sites in Antwerp,
Rohm and Haas and Rockwood Holdings' Chemical Specialties Inc. (CSI) subsidiary are planning a wood treatment joint venture that will combine Rohm and Haas's wood biocides line with CSI's wood protection business. The joint venture will be equally owned by CSI and Rohm and Haas and will have headquarters in Charlotte, N.C., where CSI is based. CSI will receive a $75 million payment from Rohm and Haas as part of the agreement. Steve Ainscough, CSI's president, will head the venture. According to the partners, the venture's annual sales will be more than $200 million per year. CSI's core wood treatment chemicals are ammoniacal copper quaternary (ACQ) compounds, which have been replacing chromated copper arsenate since the Environmental Protection Agency banned the use of arsenic in wood preservation at the end of 2003. CSI won a Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Award in 2002 for its ACQ technology (C&EN, July 1,2002, page 26). Rohm and Haas's biocides business is based on isothiazolinone and other chemistries.
Belgium; Lavera, France; and Wilhelmshaven or Cologne, Germany.
FRENCH PLANT TO CLOSE Arkema has submitted to its employee committee a plan to shut down operations at the Loison-sous-Lens organic peroxide plant in northern France. Despite productivity initiatives in recent years, the plant loses money on every product line and has been unable to adjust its cost structure to market requirements, the company says. Some 57 jobs will be lost with the closure.
FERRO ENDS TALKS ON PLASTICS SALE Ferro has ended discussions to sell its specialty plastics unit to private equity investment firm Wind Point Partners because the two could not agree on the full value of the business. In August, Ferro said it had inked a definitive agreement to sell the unit to Wind Point for $133 million (C&EN, Aug. 28, page 18).
ASHTA TESTS A FUEL CELL Ashta Chemicals will take on a 400-kW demonstration fuel cell, to be installed and operated by HydroGen, at its chlor-alkali facility in Ashtabula, Ohio. Hydrogen produced as a by-product of chlorine manufacture will power the phosphoric acid fuel WWW.CEN-0NLINE.ORG
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cell. Ashta will use the resulting electricity to lower energy costs, while HydroGen proves the performance of its fuel cell to potential customers. HydroGen says it will use $1.3 million of an award from the Ohio Department of Development to defray costs.
ORICA IS BUYING MINOVA Australia's Orica has agreed to buy Minova, a British supplier of mining chemicals and equipment, for $645 million. Minova is a BP spin-off that was acquired in 2003 by Close Brothers, a private equity fund. It manufactures mining equipment and a range of chemicals used to prevent water and gases from leaking into mines. Minova employs 1,200 people and operates 17 plants in 10 countries. Orica says Minova fits well with its existing mining services business and is well-positioned in Russia, Kazakhstan, and China.
IP GROUP SIGNS 10TH PARTNERSHIP The British intellectual property commercialization company IP Group has signed up its 10th long-term university partner, the University of Glasgow. IP Group will work with the university to identify and facilitate the formation of spin-off companies and to make an initial fund of nearly $10 million available for such companies, in return for equity stakes in them. In addi-
BUSINESS CONCENTRATES
SOLVAY EXPANDS INDIAN POLYMERS
tion, IP Group will receive 12% of the equity in spin-off companies from the university when they are established. The partnership has a term of 25 years. As of June 30,44 spinoffs have been created among the groupe university partners, IP Group says.
SERONO BOLSTERS NEW DRUG PIPELINE Serono has licensed a late-stage drug for cognitive disorders from Italian R&D firm Newron Pharmaceuticals. Serono will pay Newron up to $200 million in up-front payments and milestones for access to safinamide, an oc-aminoamide derivative that is currently in Phase III trials for Parkinson's disease. The Swiss biotech firm will also fund all future development and marketing costs for the small-molecule drug. Newron retains the right to copromote the drug in Italy and Spain.
BAYER, REGENERON LINK FOR EYE DISEASE Bayer Healthcare and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals will collaborate to develop Regeneron's VEGF Trap-Eye for the treatment of eye disease. VEGF Trap-Eye is a protein that binds to or "traps" vascular endothelial growth factor, thought to play a critical role in eye disease. The drug is currently in Phase I and II clinical trials. Regeneron will get $75 million up front from Bayer and will be eligible for milestone payments of up to $245 million. The firms will jointly commercialize VEGF Trap-Eye outside the U.S.; Regeneron has all U.S. rights.
BUSINESS ROUNDUP ULTRAPAR PARTICIPAÇÔES, a Brazilian conglomerate, has promoted Pedro Wongtschowski, managing director of its Oxiteno chemical arm, to the position of CEO, effective Jan. 1,2007 He will replace Paulo Guilherme Aguiar Cunha, who will remain chairman of Ultrapar's board. BAYER MATERIALSCIENCE says it expects
Solvay is expanding its polyether ether ketone production in Panoli, Gujarat state, India, with a 500-metric-ton-per-year plant set to open early next year. The unit will make Solvay's new KetaSpire PEEK, which is based on nucleophilic chemistry. Solvay acquired the Panoli site earlier this year through the purchase of the polymers division of India's Gharda Chemicals. KetaSpire will be part of Solvay's SolvaSpire engineering polymers line, which also includes selfreinforced polyphenylene, high-temperature sulfone, and polyamide imide.
GENZYME WINS FIGHT FOR ANORMED Ending a takeover fight, Genzyme will acquire AnorMED for $13.50 per share, or about $580 million. Genzyme bid $355 million for AnorMED at the end of August but was rejected by the Canadian biotech firm. Millennium Pharmaceuticals later stepped in with an offer of $515 million. After Genzyme revised its offer, Millennium withdrew from bidding. Both firms are interested in AnorMED's Mozobil, a hematology-oncology therapy now in Phase III clinical trials.
A ROOF SHIMMERS The '"water roof" of Barcelona's new Forum Building, designed by Swiss architectural partners Herzog 8c De Meuron, owes life to a specialty polyurea-based mem-
a January 2007 restart of the damaged production line at its Baytown, Texas, toluene diisocyanate plant. One of two TDI lines at the site was downed by an explosion that occurred on Sept. 26. SANOFI-AVENTIS has sold its remaining 8% stake in Rhodia's shares for about $242 million. Rhodia was formed in 1998 as the chemicals spin-off of Rhône-Poulenc, a predecessor to Sanofi-Aventis.
PFIZER says it is embarking on a new costreduction effort to create a "leaner and more agile organization." Although the firm is not providing details, it says the effort is on top of an ongoing $4 billion cost-cutting program. H.B. FULLER will sell its powder coatings business to Valspar in a deal expected to generate pretax income of $50 million to $60 million. Fuller says the business had sales in
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brane developed by Huntsman Polyurethanes and De Neef Technologies, a construction chemicals maker. The concrete roof, which spans 13,000 m2, is supported ' by 17 pillars. It has a deep-blue facade and , is covered with water. The polyurea coating : came into play because the size and scale of the roof prohibited use of traditional waterproofing options, says Felix Moral, general manager of De Neef.
ROCHE, INTERMUNE IN HEPATITIS DEAL Roche and InterMune will develop and commercialize products from InterMune's hepatitis C virus protease inhibitor program. The agreement includes the firm's lead compound, ITMN-191, expected to enter clinical trials by year's end. The companies will also collaborate on second-generation protease inhibitors. InterMune will receive an up-front payment of $60 million and has the potential to reap up to $470 million in milestone payments. Roche will fund 67% of development costs; the companies will co-commercialize the product in the U.S. and share profits on a 50-50 basis.
fiscal 2005 of about $75 million. CHEMIR ANALYTICAL SERVICES has established a new company, Cyanta Drug Development Services, dedicated to serving the pharmaceutical industry. Cyanta will be based adjacent toChemirin Maryland Heights, Mo., in facilities now being renovated. WACKER BIOTECH will carry out clinical-trial production of Evolutec
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Group's autoimmune disease drug, rEV576. Wacker will use its proprietary secretion system, in which Escherichia coli secrete proteins directly into the fermentation broth. SAFC, the fine chemicals arm of Sigma-Aldrich, has opened a new medicinal chemistry facility in Bangalore, India. SAFC says the $12 million facility will cooperate with an existing site in Manchester, England.
