DRUG DEVELOPMENT
▸ Emulate advances its organ emulation chip Emulate and Laboratory Corp. of America’s Covance unit have formed a partnership to assess “organs on chips” technology for preclinical drug evaluation. Emulate will bring to the partnership its polymer chip, automated inAn Emulate organ- strumentation, and on-a-chip. software to predict human responses to medicines, chemicals, and toxins. The collaboration will seek to identify specific applications in which Emulate’s chip technology can enhance drug development. The work will begin with Emulate’s kidney chip.—RICK MULLIN
reproductive immunologist at Miami who codeveloped Heat’s gp96-based immunotherapy technology. Heat Biologics currently uses the technology to create therapeutic cancer vaccines. The new Zika vaccines will be developed by a just-formed Heat subsidiary, Zolovax.—MICHAEL MCCOY
BIOTECHNOLOGY
▸ Cerulean secures much-needed cash Sinking Cerulean Pharma has found a way to stay afloat. Aspire Capital will buy $20 million worth of stock, providing much-needed cash to help move forward Cerulean’s two lead drug candidates. And in a separate move, Novartis will pay $5 million up front to use the biotech’s nanoparticle-drug conjugate technology to create drug candidates against up to five targets. Cerulean trimmed half its staff in August after its lead program, CRLX101, failed to show efficacy against kidney cancer in a Phase II study.—LISA
JARVIS
VACCINES
▸ Heat Biologics eyes Zika vaccine
DRUG DISCOVERY
Heat Biologics has licensed patents from the University of Miami that it will use to develop vaccines against the Zika virus. The Zika program will be directed by Natasa Strbo, a
▸ Scripps and Calibr join forces Scripps Research Institute (SRI) and the California Institute for Biomedical
Business Roundup
CREDIT: EMULATE
▸ Frutarom, an Israeli flavors firm, has agreed to buy Brazil-based Nardi Aromas for $1.6 million. The purchase of the producer of natural flavors and herbal extracts for alcoholic drinks and carbonated beverages is Frutarom’s seventh acquisition this year. ▸ Arkema will increase its production capacity for polyvinylidene fluoride by 25% at its site in Changshu, China. The company says it’s enjoying strong demand for the material from customers producing batteries and solar cells as well as from the water treatment sector.
Research (Calibr) have joined to form a single nonprofit focused on basic and translational biomedical research. Chemist Peter Schultz created Calibr in 2012 and is also the head of SRI. The partners say that teaming up will facilitate a self-sustaining research model. SRI has struggled in recent years to attract sufficient government funding to offset the loss of a research contract with a big drug firm. The two organizations have already worked together on drug discovery and technology projects, including the creation of a peptide stabilization platform.—LISA JARVIS
TISSUE ENGINEERING
▸ Hitachi builds cell plant in Japan Hitachi Chemical will spend $19 million to build a custom manufacturing facility producing live regenerative-medicine cells in Yokohama, Japan. The cells, produced in vitro at the facility, could be used for organ restoration or to repair immune functions damaged by injury or disease. Other applications are in cancer immunotherapy treatments and somatic stem cell therapy. The plant will make use of know-how and technology supplied by PCT, a subsidiary of Caladrius BioSciences in which Hitachi acquired a 20% stake for close to $20 million in March.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS
TREMBLAY
▸ Cabot Corp. is expanding capacity for conductive compounds and masterbatches for engineering thermoplastics applications at its plant in Pepinster, Belgium. The company says the new capacity is meant to meet growing demand for lightweight plastics needed to make more fuel-efficient cars.
▸ Pacific Industrial Development Corp. has purchased a plant in Spartanburg, S.C., where it expects to employ 100 people within five years. The firm, which specializes in the development of materials including specialty alumina, aqueous solutions, rare-earth powders, and formulated powders, now manufactures its products in Weihai, China, and Ann Arbor, Mich.
▸ Mexichem has acquired Gravenhurst Plastics, a Canadian maker of high-density polyethylene pipe. Gravenhurst had revenues of $15 million last year. It will become part of Mexichem’s Fluent pipe group.
▸ Teva Pharmaceutical Industries and IBM have expanded their existing alliance using the latter’s Watson Health data cloud. The expansion includes a three-year effort to find new uses for existing drugs.
▸ Enamine and FCH Group, both of Ukraine, will collaborate on compound library synthesis. Enamine will supply FCH with reagents, intermediates, and building blocks. FCH, in turn, will grant Enamine a share of the resulting compounds. Both firms will include them in their catalogs. ▸ Daiichi Sankyo and Inspirion Delivery Sciences have formed a partnership to commercialize Inspirion’s MorphaBond, an extended-release morphine sulfate tablet. Under the agreement, Daiichi Sankyo will have the right to commercialize a separate Inspirion compound upon U.S. FDA approval.
OCTOBER 31, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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