ENERGY STORAGE
Samsung reports on Galaxy Note 7 fires A variety of flaws may have led to battery short circuits Samsung’s investigation into the batteries of its Galaxy Note 7 phones has uncovered several manufacturing defects that likely contributed to the rash of phone fires customers experienced after the phone’s launch last year. Common causes of battery fires include a short circuit across the battery separator, a porous polyethylene film that is supposed to prevent battery electrodes from touching. Batteries can also overcharge or experience a chemical breakdown of their flammable carbonate-based electrolytes. Last week, Samsung disclosed results of analysis by two independent investigators: the testing firm Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and the engineering consulting firm Exponent. The firms tested batteries made by two batteries suppliers, dubbed in their presentations as “Company A” and Company B.” The suppliers are believed to be Samsung SDI and Amperex Technology. UL performed a teardown analysis of damaged Note 7 phones and did a failure analysis of hundreds of pristine batteries. It
found the damaged Company A batteries showed signs of internal short circuits. In many of the undamaged batteries, UL noticed deformation in the upper right corners. The company says a likely failure mechanism is that the deformation plus the mechanical stress of charging and discharging probably damaged the separator, short-circuiting the Samsung says the cause of its battery failures was battery. Exponent suggested likely short circuits in the electrode assembly. the damage to the Company A battery corners may have been caused by professor at Northeastern University, a pouch design that didn’t accommodate says battery companies have been makthe volume of the electrode assembly, leading the separator—critical to battery ing to short circuits across the separator. safety—thinner and thinner in order to For Company B, UL found missing inincrease the amount of electrode matesulation tape in some battery electrodes rials in the battery, thereby increasing and welded spots that protruded into the energy storage capacity. “A thinner sepbattery structure. arator, together with a manufacturing K. M. Abraham, principal of the battery flaw, is a calamity waiting to happen,” he consulting firm E-KEM Sciences and a says.—ALEX TULLO
MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS
J&J to pay $30 billion for Actelion The purchase of Actelion is the first major deal in a year when experts estimate heavy ative with the structure merger and acquisition of the deal. activity as drug firms Although the big grapple with pressures pharma firm is capincluding lagging proturing Actelion’s PAH ductivity, new compeportfolio and late-stage tition from biosimilars, pipeline, Actelion’s drug Actelion’s research activities will and uncertainty about discovery activities and be spun off into a new firm. drug pricing. some early-stage drug Celgene added to candidates will be spun off into a newly cre- this year’s M&A tally, saying it would pay ated biotech firm. J&J will hold a 16% stake $300 million up front to acquire Delinia, a in the new company and has the right to privately held biotech firm developing treatlater buy another 16%. ments for autoimmune diseases. Delinia’s The yet-to-be-named biotech firm will shareholders could see another $475 million be outfitted with $930 million in cash and in milestone payments as its molecules adrun by Actelion’s existing scientific team, vance into the clinic. retaining upward of 700 of Actelion’s 2,500 Delinia was launched in September with employees, Jean-Paul Clozel, founder and $35 million in funding to develop proteins CEO of Actelion, said at a press conference. that can modulate the activity of regulatory Clozel will lead the new company. T cells.—LISA JARVIS
CREDIT: SAMSUNG (BATTERY); ACTELION (RESEARCHER)
A new biotech firm will be created from Actelion’s research unit Ending months of negotiations, Johnson & Johnson will pay $30 billion to acquire the Swiss biotech firm Actelion. The proposed transaction is the biggest to date in a year expected to bring significant deal-making by big pharmaceutical companies. The purchase—the biggest ever for J&J—gives the pharma firm a portfolio of treatments for pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), a rare type of high blood pressure that affects the lungs and heart. Those PAH drugs brought in more than $2 billion in sales in 2015. Actelion first confirmed in November that J&J had approached with a takeover offer, though by December, Sanofi emerged as a possible suitor. Ultimately, J&J, which is grappling with new competition in the U.S. for its top-selling drug, Remicade, was willing to get cre-
JANUARY 30, 2017 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN
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