FINANCE
The two companies have cooperated since 2013 on cathode materials for car batteries.—JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
▸ Moderna raises cash, invests in manufacturing
OUTSOURCING
▸ India’s Syngene opens lab for Amgen
Cambrex will invest $9 million in this Swedish facility.
Syngene International, a Bangalore-based contract research firm, has opened a lab that will work exclusively for the drugmaker Amgen. The multidisciplinary facility will be staffed by 100 scientists once fully operational. This is the fourth Syngene facility dedicated to a single client. The firm also operates labs for Bristol-Myers Squibb, Abbott Nutrition, and Baxter. Syngene is a subsidiary of Biocon, India’s largest biotech firm.—
JEAN-FRANÇOIS TREMBLAY
PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMICALS
▸ Cambrex expands next in Sweden Cambrex will spend $9 million to expand its small-molecule active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) facility in Karlskoga, Sweden. The investment will add 28 m3 of capacity at the site, roughly a 10% increase, according to Cambrex. “This investment is in response to an increase in demand for larger-scale, multipurpose manufac-
turing capabilities, says Bjarne Sandberg, managing director of Cambrex Karlskoga. Cambrex recently invested $50 million in its Charles City, Iowa, API facility and said it would spend $20 million on further expansion by year-end.—RICK MULLIN
VACCINES
▸ U.S. funds work on two Zika vaccines The Biomedical Advanced Research & Development Authority has committed to supporting two companies’ early-stage development of Zika vaccines. Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical will receive $20 million over 18 months to complete preclinical work and a Phase I clinical trial of its inactivated whole-virus vaccine. BARDA is also putting $8 million over four years into similar work at Moderna Therapeutics on its mRNA-based vaccine. BARDA may extend the agreements for another five to six years, putting Takeda in a position to receive up to $311 million and Moderna up to $126 million.—ANN THAYER
Business Roundup
C R E D I T: CA MB R EX
▸ Solenis, the former Ashland water treatment business, has acquired Nopco Holding, a Norwegian maker of chemicals for the pulp and paper industry. Solenis says Nopco’s antifoam and deinking products complement its specialty chemicals for pulp and paper. ▸ Chemtura has opened a flame retardants R&D and applications development lab at its research campus in Naugatuck, Conn. Flame retardants experts will be able to work with petroleum additive and urethane researchers who are also
at the site, Chemtura says. ▸ Haldor Topsoe, the Danish catalyst firm, has opened an office in Tehran where it hopes to establish ties with Iranian chemical and refining companies. The international community has been easing sanctions related to Iran’s nuclear program. ▸ Idemitsu Kosan and Formosa Petrochemical plan to build a $50 million hydrocarbon resin unit in Taiwan by 2019. The resins will be used in hotmelt adhesives for diapers and other hygiene products.
The mRNA drug developer Moderna Therapeutics has closed yet another gargantuan round of funding. The $474 million in equity financing brings its total cash on hand to $1.4 billion. The money will be used to invest in its mRNA technology and support its growing clinical pipeline—two studies have begun and two more are near. Moderna also plans to build a $100 million manufacturing facility outside Boston to support the clinical trials. The biotech says it will unveil more details this fall.—LISA JARVIS
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
▸ Allergan buys gene therapy firm Allergan will pay $60 million up front to acquire RetroSense Therapeutics, which is developing gene therapies to restore sight in people with eye diseases. With the deal, Allergan gains access to RST-001, a gene therapy being tested in a Phase I/II study against retinitis pigmentosa, a rare disease marked by peripheral vision loss, night vision challenges, and eventual blindness. RST-001 delivers a gene called channelrhodopsin-2 that may allow new photosensors to be created in retinal ganglion cells.—LISA JARVIS
▸ DSM and Green Biologics are part of a consortium of 14 European firms that will demonstrate the conversion of woody biomass to chemicals including butanol, ethanol, and 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid. The three-year project will receive $18 million from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program and other sources. ▸ Intrinsiq Materials has raised $3 million in venture funds from undisclosed investors. The Rochester, N.Y.-based company, a spinoff from the U.K. Ministry of Defence, produces metallic nanoparticles and pastes used in applications such as printed electronics.
▸ Monsanto and Second Genome are joining to accelerate the discovery of microbiome-based products that improve agricultural productivity. The companies will focus on proteins that could provide an insect-control benefit for farmers. ▸ Janssen R&D is an industry partner in a $15.4 million effort to develop stem-cellbased methods for screening drugs against schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Johns Hopkins University and the Salk Institute for Biological Studies will also participate in the new National Institute of Mental Health-backed program.
SEPTEMBER 12, 2016 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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